I had the chance to watch the documentary, Black Box Diaries, at the SF Film Festival back this April, which is coming out in NYC on Friday, October 25 at New York’s Film Forum and expanding a week later to theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.
After reading the description for the documentary Black Box Diaries, I immediately knew that I wanted to watch the film and that I wanted my friend, Rowena Chiu, a Harvey Weinstein survivor and #MeToo activist, to interview Shiori Ito. Shiori Ito is the face of #MeToo in Japan. The documentary and Ito’s bravery are both extraordinary.
In this interview, Rowena digs deeper into some of the motivations behind some of the choices of the documentary and the state of the #MeToo movement in Japan. Ito discusses her decision to turn her experience into a documentary after facing challenges with getting her case investigated and the lack of Japanese media’s coverage. She emphasizes the difficulty of discussing sexual violence openly in Japan due to stigma.
Ito also discusses the impact of the global #MeToo movement on her story in Japan and reflects on the importance of allyship, both internationally and locally, highlighting the support she received from male allies and bystanders. She encourages audience members to share their thoughts on the film and hopes for its eventual screening in Japan, due to pressure and, she hopes, a successful run internationally of Black Box Diaries, to continue the conversation on sexual violence.
