2015 Double Exposure: Investigative Film Festival & Symposium | Page 8

WELCOME TO DOUBLE EXPOSURE
FROM DIANA JEAN SCHEMO & SKY SITNEY
Beginning in 2005, American news organizations started reporting on the vast
expansion of U.S. government surveillance of private citizens, a deep change to
our way of life underway with virtually no public debate and even less oversight.
The stories appeared and stirred discussion. But the debate was limited,
circumscribed. Along came CITIZENFOUR and the massive documents and
revelations that Edward Snowden handed to Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras.
Within days, the rise of surveillance was on everyone’s lips, and meaningful
debate found life.
Wherever one stands on the actions of Snowden, or even those of Greenwald
or Poitras, there is no disputing the power of film to reach new audiences for
investigative storytelling, and to connect with them in profound, sometimes
haunting, ways.
We are living through a transformative age as a particular form of storytelling,
driven by the investigative instinct, migrates from print to screen, and
filmmakers venture into territory once identified as purely journalistic. Double
Exposure, the nation’s first investigative film festival, recognizes and celebrates
the treasures of this shift.
While the film screenings of Double Exposure share this trove of investigative
inquiry with the public, a concurrent symposium over the next two days is
gathering practitioners to connect, collaborate and nurture the next harvest of
great storytelling.
May we see the fruits of their labors in festivals to come.
Diana Jean Schemo
Founding Director

8

InvestigativeFilmFestival.com

Sky Sitney
Associate Director