Diary of a fight against the system
"I know there are countless people in the world who have experienced sexual violence. Be aware that the scenes in the film may be emotionally disturbing. Close your eyes and take a deep breath if you feel the need to. This has been helpful to me many times." This sentence opens the documentary. Daily black box, a documentary by journalist Shiori Ito, nominated for best documentary at the next Oscars. You can find it on Filmin and Movistar+. In 2015, Ito was raped by a prestigious journalist in Japan. Yamaguchi was the director of Tokyo Broadcasting System, a man very close to power, a good friend of Prime Minister Abe, who was assassinated in 2022 during a rally.
Yamaguchi raped her very aggressively while she was unconscious, in a hotel. When she woke up, the situation repeated itself. Despite her complaint, the police and the justice system denied her the possibility of proving anything, hoping to silence her. All the helplessness that Shiori Itō felt as a victim was compensated for by her effectiveness as a journalist. She focused on investigating her own assault, collecting evidence and publicly denouncing it through a book and a documentary to ensure that justice did its job.
It is a documentary made with domestic means. A subjective follow-up of her struggle to prove the rape. She devotes herself to searching for testimonies, images from video cameras and evidence. The viewer witnesses the emotional ups and downs that it all causes. Moments of despair in the face of the impunity of a corrupt and sexist system. But the protagonist goes far beyond her personal case. As a journalist, she decides to show how the law that should protect victims of sexual violence is obsolete and outdated, and how it fails to protect all women. She exposes the re-victimizing and cruel treatment of justice, which, for example, forces women to recreate sexual assaults with a doll. She also demonstrates the political influences in the obstruction of her case and the ineffectiveness of the police. During the five years of her investigation, she is the victim of cruel comments of hate and misogyny. Also of new harassment and underhand blackmail from men who, in exchange for helping her, want to take advantage of her. Everything is recorded. Many citizens understand Ito's complaint as an attack on the country. The media is surprised by her decision to come forward publicly and persist with her accusations. Shiori Ito thus demonstrates how rotten the system is.
Daily black box It is distressing because we, the spectators, are in a privileged position. We see the evidence and witnesses that support her version. But we also see the disdain and disbelief of the police and the justice system. Shiori Ito forces us to share her helplessness so that everyone can put themselves in the victims' shoes.