SELECTIONS INCLUDE COCAINE PRISON, THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR, & HALL OF MIRRORS
Lineup Unveils Some of the Year’s Most Compelling Investigative Films
Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium announced on Oct. 4 the complete film program of its third edition, featuring world, U.S., and Washington, DC premieres of new documentary films that go beyond the headlines to capture riveting stories and confront matters that have been hidden from the public, until now.
The eleven films in this year’s program, running from October 19-22, represent the largest and most ambitious lineup yet.
With the titles announced today, Double Exposure has quickly become Washington’s premiere fall festival for films at the intersection of investigative journalism and visual storytelling.
With screenings in the evenings and weekend, the film program is intertwined with a daytime symposium bringing together leading investigative journalists, film directors, producers and funders.
With screenings in the evenings and weekend, the film program is intertwined with a daytime symposium bringing together leading investigative journalists, film directors, producers and funders.
Symposium topics this year include panels on “the real take” on fake news, protecting sources and subjects in newly hostile environments, immersive and undercover reporting, and conversations with leading filmmakers.
COCAINE PRISON
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Violeta Ayala
Australia / France / Bolivia / United States
Oct. 20 – 6:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/cocaine-prison/
From inside Bolivia's most notorious prison a cocaine worker, a drug mule and his younger sister reveal the country’s complex and inescapable relationship with cocaine.
Filmmaker in attendance.
DEVIL’S FREEDOM (LA LIBERTAD DEL DIABLO)
Director Everardo González
Mexico
Oct. 21 – 12:00 p.m.
“We are excited to bring these probing, new investigative documentaries to Washington audiences,” Diana Jean Schemo, Double Exposure’s founder and co-director, said. “This season’s slate explores timely issues in our nation’s political life just now, including race in America, the drug trade, Latin America, and the media itself.”
“The films in this year’s lineup are not only great works of journalism, but great works of cinematic storytelling that bring vivid and distinct focus to a range of topics and issues otherwise left unseen,” Sky Sitney, Double Exposure co-director, said.
COCAINE PRISON
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Violeta Ayala
Australia / France / Bolivia / United States
Oct. 20 – 6:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/cocaine-prison/
From inside Bolivia's most notorious prison a cocaine worker, a drug mule and his younger sister reveal the country’s complex and inescapable relationship with cocaine.
Filmmaker in attendance.
DEVIL’S FREEDOM (LA LIBERTAD DEL DIABLO)
Director Everardo González
Mexico
Oct. 21 – 12:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-devils-freedom/
In searing testimony from both victims and perpetrators, this documentary paints an indelible portrait of violence in Mexico. Using masks to protect the identities of his subjects, filmmaker Everardo González brings a rare candor to their tales.
Filmmaker in attendance.
DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Travis Wilkinson
United States
Oct. 22 – 11:00 a.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/ever-wonder-fired-gun/
Travis Wilkerson sets out to explore the truth behind a family story: that his white supremacist great grandfather killed a black man in his store in lower Alabama in 1946.
END OF TRUTH
World Premiere
Directors Tricia Todd and Eric Matthies
United States
Oct. 22 – 7:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/end-of-truth/
An emotionally powerful investigation into the political and criminal enterprise of kidnappings as ISIS rose to power in war torn Syria. By intercutting exclusive footage with intimate interviews of negotiators, investigators, fixers and even a used car salesman who are caught up in the confusion, the filmmakers examine the leads that led to lies revealing the terrible consequence of misinformation when lives are at stake.
Filmmaker in attendance.
HALL OF MIRRORS
Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Ena Talakic and Ines Talakic
Italy / United States
Oct. 21 – 2:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/hall-of-mirrors/
Edward Jay Epstein has built a career on taking a deeper look at hidden trends and unquestioned scripts that enter mainstream thinking. In Hall of Mirrors, he delves into Edward Snowden’s historic leak of data on U.S. government surveillance, delighting in the absurdities he discovers.
Filmmakers in attendance.
NO STONE UNTURNED
Centerpiece Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Director Alex Gibney
United States
Oct. 20 – 8:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/no-stone-unturned/
In 1994, six men were gunned down and five wounded in a pub while watching a World Cup soccer match in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. With a police investigation that was perfunctory at best, the case remained unsolved. In this non-fiction murder mystery, Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney reopens the original case to investigate why no culprit was ever brought to justice.
After the screening, director Alex Gibney will be in-conversation with Mark Mazzetti, Washington Investigations Editor for The New York Times.
ONE OF US
Opening Night Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
United States
Oct. 19 – 7:00 p.m.
National Portrait Gallery
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/one-of-us/
Academy Award nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow the lives of three people who have chosen to leave the world of Hasidic Judaism. A Netflix Original Documentary.
After the screening, directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing will be in-conversation with Ruth Marcus, columnist for The Washington Post.
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING
U.S. Premiere
Director Mila Turajlic
Serbia
Oct. 22 – 4:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-other-side-of-everything/
A locked door inside a Belgrade apartment has kept one family separated from their past for over 70 years. As the filmmaker begins an intimate conversation with her mother, the political fault line running through their home reveals a house and a country haunted by history. She fights and secures the release of hidden records that the nationalist government had removed from public archives. The chronicle of a family in Serbia turns into a searing portrait of an activist in times of great turmoil, questioning the responsibility of each generation to the next.
Filmmaker in attendance.
THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Nancy Buirski
United States
Oct. 21 – 5:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-rape-of-recy-taylor/
Recy Taylor was gang raped by 6 white boys in Alabama in 1944. Unbroken, she spoke up, and with help from Rosa Parks and legions of women, fought for justice. Entwined through family and social ties with local police, Taylor’s rapists were never tried for their crime. The film explores the largely hidden phenomenon of white men raping black women in the south, a crime all but ignored by law enforcement and the press.
Filmmaker in attendance.
TRUSTWHO
World Premiere
Director Lillian Franck
Germany
Oct. 22 – 1:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/trustwho/
Is the World Health Organization sick? The filmmaker and mother Lilian Franck reveals clandestine influences by the tobacco, pharmaceutical and nuclear industries on the organization, charged with protecting global health.
Filmmaker in attendance.
VOYEUR
Closing Night Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Myles Kane and Josh Koury
United States
Oct. 21 – 8:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/voyeur/
Voyeur follows journalist Gay Talese as he reports on one of the most controversial stories of his career: a Colorado motel owner, Gerald Foos, who spent decades spying on his guests and recording their private moments. A Netflix original documentary.
Filmmakers in attendance.
Additional Double Exposure Programming
The Symposium program was announced earlier this month: doubleexposurefestival.com/2017-symposium/
Public Tickets & Press Logistics
Passes are available at: eventbrite.com/e/double-exposure-investigative-film-festival-symposium-passes-tickets-35010315797
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-devils-freedom/
In searing testimony from both victims and perpetrators, this documentary paints an indelible portrait of violence in Mexico. Using masks to protect the identities of his subjects, filmmaker Everardo González brings a rare candor to their tales.
Filmmaker in attendance.
DID YOU WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN?
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Travis Wilkinson
United States
Oct. 22 – 11:00 a.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/ever-wonder-fired-gun/
Travis Wilkerson sets out to explore the truth behind a family story: that his white supremacist great grandfather killed a black man in his store in lower Alabama in 1946.
END OF TRUTH
World Premiere
Directors Tricia Todd and Eric Matthies
United States
Oct. 22 – 7:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/end-of-truth/
An emotionally powerful investigation into the political and criminal enterprise of kidnappings as ISIS rose to power in war torn Syria. By intercutting exclusive footage with intimate interviews of negotiators, investigators, fixers and even a used car salesman who are caught up in the confusion, the filmmakers examine the leads that led to lies revealing the terrible consequence of misinformation when lives are at stake.
Filmmaker in attendance.
HALL OF MIRRORS
Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Ena Talakic and Ines Talakic
Italy / United States
Oct. 21 – 2:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/hall-of-mirrors/
Edward Jay Epstein has built a career on taking a deeper look at hidden trends and unquestioned scripts that enter mainstream thinking. In Hall of Mirrors, he delves into Edward Snowden’s historic leak of data on U.S. government surveillance, delighting in the absurdities he discovers.
Filmmakers in attendance.
NO STONE UNTURNED
Centerpiece Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Director Alex Gibney
United States
Oct. 20 – 8:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/no-stone-unturned/
In 1994, six men were gunned down and five wounded in a pub while watching a World Cup soccer match in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. With a police investigation that was perfunctory at best, the case remained unsolved. In this non-fiction murder mystery, Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney reopens the original case to investigate why no culprit was ever brought to justice.
After the screening, director Alex Gibney will be in-conversation with Mark Mazzetti, Washington Investigations Editor for The New York Times.
ONE OF US
Opening Night Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
United States
Oct. 19 – 7:00 p.m.
National Portrait Gallery
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/one-of-us/
Academy Award nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow the lives of three people who have chosen to leave the world of Hasidic Judaism. A Netflix Original Documentary.
After the screening, directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing will be in-conversation with Ruth Marcus, columnist for The Washington Post.
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING
U.S. Premiere
Director Mila Turajlic
Serbia
Oct. 22 – 4:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-other-side-of-everything/
A locked door inside a Belgrade apartment has kept one family separated from their past for over 70 years. As the filmmaker begins an intimate conversation with her mother, the political fault line running through their home reveals a house and a country haunted by history. She fights and secures the release of hidden records that the nationalist government had removed from public archives. The chronicle of a family in Serbia turns into a searing portrait of an activist in times of great turmoil, questioning the responsibility of each generation to the next.
Filmmaker in attendance.
THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR
Washington, DC Premiere
Director Nancy Buirski
United States
Oct. 21 – 5:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/the-rape-of-recy-taylor/
Recy Taylor was gang raped by 6 white boys in Alabama in 1944. Unbroken, she spoke up, and with help from Rosa Parks and legions of women, fought for justice. Entwined through family and social ties with local police, Taylor’s rapists were never tried for their crime. The film explores the largely hidden phenomenon of white men raping black women in the south, a crime all but ignored by law enforcement and the press.
Filmmaker in attendance.
TRUSTWHO
World Premiere
Director Lillian Franck
Germany
Oct. 22 – 1:00 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/trustwho/
Is the World Health Organization sick? The filmmaker and mother Lilian Franck reveals clandestine influences by the tobacco, pharmaceutical and nuclear industries on the organization, charged with protecting global health.
Filmmaker in attendance.
VOYEUR
Closing Night Film – Washington, DC Premiere
Directors Myles Kane and Josh Koury
United States
Oct. 21 – 8:30 p.m.
Naval Heritage Center
doubleexposurefestival.com/films/voyeur/
Voyeur follows journalist Gay Talese as he reports on one of the most controversial stories of his career: a Colorado motel owner, Gerald Foos, who spent decades spying on his guests and recording their private moments. A Netflix original documentary.
Filmmakers in attendance.
Additional Double Exposure Programming
The Symposium program was announced earlier this month: doubleexposurefestival.com/2017-symposium/
Public Tickets & Press Logistics
Passes are available at: eventbrite.com/e/double-exposure-investigative-film-festival-symposium-passes-tickets-35010315797
