When Japanese journalist Shiori Ito decided to speak up about her rape allegations, she knew she would do so in the face of a society that prefers silence.
“I’m scared…but all I want to do is to talk about the truth,” she says, in the opening scene of her Oscar-nominated documentary Black Box Diaries.
Shiori became the face of Japan’s MeToo movement after she accused a prominent journalist, Noriyuki Yamaguchi, of rape. He denies the charges.
Her acclaimed directorial debut, based on her memoir of the same name, is a retelling of her quest for justice, after authorities found insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.
But there is one country where the documentary has still not been aired: Japan – where it has run into huge controversy.
Shiori’s former lawyers have accused her of including audio and video footage that she did not have permission to use, which, they maintain, has violated trust and put her sources at risk.
She defends what she did as necessary for “public good”.
It’s a startling turn in a story that gripped Japan when it first broke. Then 28 years old, Shiori had chosen to ignore her family’s request to remain silent about the alleged rape. And after her public accusation did not result in a criminal case, she filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Yamaguchi – and won $30,000 (£22,917) in damages.
