My Sextortion Diary – Hot Docs 2024
Natalie Portman Teaches Acting
April 25 to May 5, 2024
Content Advisory: Sexual Harassment
FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2024
PROGRAMME
Made in Spain
Director Patricia Franquesa documents her own experience of being blackmailed over stolen private photos in My Sextortion Diary. While on a business trip in May 2019, Pati’s laptop was stolen while she had lunch with her ex during a business trip to Madrid. Two months later, she discovers that the laptop was hacked and that the anonymous hacker demands that $2400 be deposited into a Bitcoin wallet or else three very private photos will be e-mailed to everyone on Pati’s contact list. Deciding not to give in to these demands, Pati instead turns this experience into a documentary.
My Sextortion Diary Synopsis
Utilizing a Screenlife-style format made up predominantly of mobile videos, e-mails, and text messages, and a creepy computerized voice-over for the hacker, Patricia Franquesa (Oh, Dear Sara) documents her experience being a victim of sextortion, which is described as being the most prevalent form of Intimate Image Abuse. At the suggestion of her friend and producer Mireia Graell Vivancos, this experience gets turned into a documentary idea, under the working title Digital Vagina. However, Pati still feels great anxiety as the threats from the hacker continue.
My Thoughts on My Sextortion Diary
My Sextortion Diary takes a very intimate personal look at the larger issue of revenge porn and other instances where private personal photos are leaked online. Pati discovers that there is no legal protection for victims of sextortion and she loses faith in the police doing anything after she is sexually harassed by one. If anything, My Sextortion Diary will leave you second-guessing where you store your private photos.
Trailer for My Sextortion Diary – Hot Docs 2024
