Screening: Black Box Diaries (2024)

A film by Shiori Itō
Oscar-nominated documentary chronicling her pursuit of justice after surviving sexual violence

Followed by a conversation with:
Shiori Itō, Japanese journalist and documentary filmmaker; TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2020
Rebecca Wanzo, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Yue Wang, PhD Candidate in Japanese Language and Literature (Moderator)

Sponsored by East Asian Languages and Cultures, Film and Media Studies, Global Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

2025 Academy Award Nominee | Best Documentary Feature Film
In 2017, Japanese journalist Shiori Itō publicly accused a prominent media executive (and associate of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) of rape, and published a bestselling memoir detailing her case — Black Box, a book credited with sparking the #MeToo movement in Japan.

Black Box Diaries is a survivor’s real-time investigation of her own sexual assault — and includes raw video diaries (shot on Itō’s iPhone), surreptitious audio recordings of police negligence, and vérité courtroom footage. Itō documents her courageous struggle to navigate Japan’s patriarchal judiciary and antiquated sex crimes laws (proven lack of consent was insufficient) and quest for justice.