- Writer
- Patricia Franquesa
- Director
- Patricia Franquesa
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 64 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
Sextortion is the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity. A violent form of abuse and coercion towards someone, it is something very familiar to Patricia Franquesa, the writer and director of My Sextortion Diary. While having lunch with her ex during a trip to Madrid, Patricia had her laptop stolen. A few weeks later, an old friend sent her a message alerting them about the e-mail he had received—a letter written in first person along with nude pictures of her and her LinkedIn profile name.
Recording her experience through the whole process, Patricia recorded screens and phone calls and mixed those with daily snapshots of her feelings. Combining these visual elements with text messages between her and her group of friends, the film gives her situation a sense of sincerity and humanity. Faced with one of the most humiliating periods of her life, she felt both exposed and violated. Above all else, the film serves as therapy, keeping her company as a means to maintain her sanity during which was a difficult time. As she found herself blackmailed, Patricia did not waste time and pitched her documentary to producers.
Initially called “Digital Vagina,” My Sextortion Diary took place simultaneous to Patricia’s other projects. An essential moment in the film saw her travel to the Locarno Film Festival, where she met potential partners for this production. Meanwhile, it also features a personal favorite needle drop this year, using Spanish artist Bad Gyal’s bop Internationally to mark a transition between the physical and emotional parts of Patricia’s story. Another critical aspect of the film is the involvement of the police. Marred by an initial late response and further degradation by the hands of an indecent officer, this behavior is sure to ramp up audience anger as it is difficult to move on and move forward without an adequate response.
In the end, My Sextortion Diary is an angering video journal documentary directed with such mastery and control, which is ironic in contrast to its subject matter. Patricia Franquesa’s film is not only intriguing but one that delivers an impactful watch within its roughly 60-minute running time.
still courtesy of Hot Docs
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Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.
