Double Exposure, a project of the investigative news organization 100Reporters, celebrates the finest new films inspired by the investigative instinct. It combines film screenings for the public with a professional symposium for journalists and visual storytellers.
Now in its eight year, DX does more than just identify and celebrate a new genre of filmmaking. It casts this vital body of work toward recognition as a coherent artistic vision. It connects audience appreciation for creative output to the rights of reporters and filmmakers to pursue investigations in the public interest; it ties stirrings of artistic curiosity to practical consequences and groundbreaking storytelling to policy changes.
As DX 2022 approaches, public awareness of investigative reporting’s importance for a vibrant democracy has never been more urgent. As grave as may be the efforts to stifle watchdog journalism, however, there is also light: a rebirth of relentless investigative reporting alongside exciting new forms of storytelling that mix journalism with film, serial podcasts in audio and video, hybrid storytelling, virtual reality–even poetry.
Film program
Double Exposure screens timely, compelling films drawn from the notebooks and experiences of investigative journalists and visual storytellers working across a variety of media, whether in print, radio, or film. The films presented at Double Exposure include the Washington premiere of new narrative and documentary works that are either about investigative journalism or journalists, based on investigative reporting, or films that are investigations unto themselves. All screenings are followed by lively discussions with directors, producers, protagonists, subject experts and journalists.
Symposium
Double Exposure Symposium (Oct. 13-16, 2022) will welcome filmmakers and journalists, both established and emerging, for three days of intensive discussion and training, in a collegial atmosphere. Here, practitioners can examine the challenges and opportunities of investigative storytelling in the current political climate, hear from peers experimenting with exciting new forms of storytelling, connect with industry insiders who can advance projects through the festival’s DX Access and DX Pitch initiatives, learn from experts in press law, cyber security and technology, and meet the commissioning editors, producers, investors and distributors who can advance their work.
The symposium offers a range of formats including panels, master classes, workshops and small group meetings. It also includes a Pro Bono Legal Clinic for filmmakers and journalists, with leading press attorneys who have agreed to consider representing participants on a continuing basis. Past programming has taught concrete skills such as safety in the field, encryption, protecting whistleblowers and taking stories from print to screen; made introductions to key investors, editors and producers; and tackled big-picture issues: illicit tax havens, whistleblower protections, and the democratization of investigative reporting and practices.