Japan Oscar-nominated film to be reedited amid legal concerns

From Kyodo

February 21 2025

TOKYO – Japanese journalist Shiori Ito, who directed an Academy Award-nominated documentary about her own sexual assault case, said Thursday that she will reedit part of the film to address allegations that the film includes unauthorized content.

The documentary, “Black Box Diaries,” has been screened in over 50 overseas countries and regions since its world premiere at a film festival in January last year but not yet in Japan due to legal concerns.

Lawyers, including those who represented Ito in a civil lawsuit over the case, have said that she broke a pledge to protect sources by using unauthorized footage and audio.

“I sincerely apologize for causing harm,” Ito said in a statement released through the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Thursday, where she was scheduled to hold a press conference on her film but canceled due to feeling unwell.

Ito admitted that she used security camera footage at the hotel she was dragged into by the alleged assailant, a former television reporter, even though it was provided solely for use in the trial.

She also used a phone recording of a conversation with one of the former lawyers, as well as footage of conversations with a taxi driver and a detective, without getting approval from the relevant parties for the film.

“In the latest version, all efforts have been made to ensure that individuals cannot be identified. I will do everything I can to make the necessary changes for future screenings abroad,” she added.

Known as a symbol of Japan’s #MeToo movement after going public with the high-profile rape case, Ito became the first Japanese director to be nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature film.

The documentary is based on her investigative reporting detailing the 2015 incident.

At a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday, the lawyers questioned whether foreign distributers were aware of the film having legal problems and whether the human rights and ethical issues were considered in its evaluation.

Ito said in the statement that in seeking to prioritize the public interest, she decided to go ahead with using part of the unauthorized material, believing it “essential” to conveying the reality of sexual violence and “the only visual proof.”

The incident occurred in April 2015 when Ito met the alleged assailant for dinner and she later filed a complaint with police, saying she had been sexually assaulted by him in the hotel room after losing consciousness.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office decided not to prosecute the reporter, but Ito won a damages suit against him, with the Supreme Court finalizing a ruling that found there had been sexual intercourse without consent.