In Advisor Studio sessions, Sundance Collab Advisors share field experiences and insights into their specific areas of craft, including writing, directing and producing for TV and film.

Shiori Ito is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker with a focus on gender-based human rights issues. For her contribution to Japan’s #MeToo movement, she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020.

In her feature documentary film debut, Black Box Diaries, she embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s outdated judicial and societal systems.

In this Advisor Studio, Ito discusses her process in creating the film, from capturing secret investigative recordings to first person video, as well as making a documentary based on her book, and the power of storytelling to inspire change.

Black Box Diaries was a part of the World Documentary Competition slate at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Shiori Ito
Filmmaker, Journalist
Shiori Ito is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker with a focus on gender-based human rights issues. For her contribution to Japan’s #MeToo movement, she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2020. BLACK BOX DIARIES is her feature documentary film debut. more...
Katherine Street
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging. She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV. Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create. She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Culture Creative Entertainment. more...
Tags:Activism & Social Impact

Join the Discussion