Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium

Double Exposure Symposium (Oct. 14-18, 2020) will welcome more than 250 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. 

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.