Ito Shiori’s film about her sexual assault, Black Box Diaries, didn’t win the Academy Award for Best Documentary. The journalist and first-time director, however, say she’s not fazed and is focused on a larger goal: getting her Oscar-nominated film to screen in her own country.
The 35-year-old Ito, whose film also marked her directorial debut, sees her over a period of six years fighting for justice after she was raped by reporter Yamaguchi Noriyuki. The film, which is now available online, contains some powerful and disturbing footage, including hotel security camera footage of Yamaguchi spending over a minute hauling her barely-unconscious body out of a taxi into his hotel.
The movie’s won worldwide acclaim and became the first film by a Japanese director to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary. The award went to No Other Land, a film by Palestinian and Israeli activists that documents the gradual destruction of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank by Israeli forces.
Shining a light on a difficult topic
While acclaimed worldwide, the film has yet to air in Japan. Ito’s former lawyers have railed against it, saying she failed to secure permission to use footage from the hotel and others featured in the documentary.
While nothing legally prevents the film from screening, distributors and theaters have shied away due to the ruckus by the people who were once Ito’s allies. Producer Eric Nyari has said that many theaters have shied away because the same companies that own theaters also own hotels, making it a sensitive issue for them. Ito has said distributors simply don’t want the controversy.
In an interview with Nikkan Sports, Ito says she’s happy that No Other Land won and communicated her congratulations to the filmmakers.
Asked to look back on the film, Ito says it “marks the end” of a chapter of her story. “But now I want to focus on premiering it in Japan,” she said.
“I’m proud to be the first Japanese person nominated for this category. It’s a film that shines a light on a difficult topic. For sure, all five of the nominated films are stories of light and darkness. I’m looking forward to the day when I can see it together with everyone on the big screen in Japan.”
Ito described walking the red carpet as a surreal experience she’d “only ever seen on the news.” She recounts thinking about the past 10 years of her life, and the people who stood with her and fought alongside her despite the attacks on her character.
“I feel like everyone was walking step by step with me on the red carpet. I felt like celebrating, and grateful for everyone’s hard work.”
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