Black Box Diaries – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 3, 2025: Team #MOTW’s Favorite MOTWs of 2024

December 30, 2024December 30, 2024 Jennifer Merin babes, betsy bozdech, Black Box Diaries, Cate Marquis, Frida, Ghostlight, jennifer merin, La Chimera, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, mointains, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, the Last Showgirl, the teachers's lounge, The Wasp, We Grown Now

Team #MOTW looks back at the films we featured during 2024 and highlights our favorites. There are many things about 2024 that we want to forget, but these femme-helmed/femme centric films that brought inspiration, understanding, compassion, and respite replete with laughter are not among them — and they must not slip into oblivion. Their themes, topics and genres are diverse, and each one of them is a gem. Add them to your must watch list. Share the titles with friends. To find out more about each of the selected films, click on the highlighted titles for links to the full #MOTW coverage that was published on AWFJ.org on the day of their release. Enjoy all of them!

Festivals

Middleburg FF 2024 Female Focus Wrap – Leslie Combemale reports

October 23, 2024January 23, 2025 Leslie Combemale B. Monét, Black Box Diaries, Bolanie Austen Peters, Danielle Deadwyler, gia coppola, Loren Hudson, Marielle Heller, Middleburg FF 2024, Middleburg Film Festival, zoe saldana

The Middleburg Film Festival is one fest that has leaned into its support for female filmmakers from its inception 12 years ago. It has always not only premiered and featured a wide variety of female-helmed documentaries and narrative features from all over the world, it has also made sure to invite those filmmakers to the fest for panels and Q&As, so that fans, film lovers, and press can learn what inspired them and their unique process for their projects. 2024 is no different in terms of highlighting female filmmakers and craftspeople, although this year there were more filmmakers and below the line artists in residence than ever before.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK October 25, 2024: BLACK BOX DIARIES

October 20, 2024October 19, 2024 Jennifer Merin #metoo, autobiography, Black Box Diaries, documentary, japanese films, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, sex crime laws, Shinzo Abe, Shiori Ito

Black Box Diaries — Japanese journalist Shiori Ito’s documentary about her investigation into her own traumatic sexual assault — is as inspiring as it is harrowing. With determination, focus, and persistence, she becomes a virtual one-woman #MeToo movement, refusing to back down or give up until the flawed Japanese legal system does its job and her rapist faces consequences for his actions, no matter how many friends he has in high places.

Reviews

BLACK BOX DIARIES – Review by Loren King

October 18, 2024October 19, 2024 Loren King #metoo, autobiography, Black Box Diaries, documentary, japanese films, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, sex crime laws, Shinzo Abe, Shiori Ito

Combining aspects of criminal investigation, police procedural, and a deeply personal account of her sexual assault at the dawn of the #MeToo movement, Japanese journalist Shiori Ito’s extraordinary verite documentary “Black Box Diaries” succeeds as an expose by any standard. That it is also Ito’s personal manifesto and authentic reckoning makes this unique autobiographical documentary even more of a revelation.

Festivals Reviews

BLACK BOX DIARIES (Sundance FF 2024) – Review by Leslie Combemale

January 20, 2024January 21, 2024 Leslie Combemale Black Box Diaries, japanese films, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, rape, sexual abuse, Shiori Ito, Sundance FF 2024

In her documentary directorial debut, Japanese journalist Shiori Ito chronicles the aftermath of her own sexual assault, using her notes, secret recordings, first person videos and footage from the time. Her film is an indictment of the continued societal misogyny and antiquated judicial system in Japan, and led to a landmark case that might, at last, shift perception away from victim shaming and tacit acceptance of violence towards women by men in power.