WSFF 2024 Official Film Selections

Hollywood Studio Participant Media to be Remembered During 12th Annual Gathering Announcing the New Martha Mitchell House Whistleblower Museum and National Book Launch for “Community Capital” and “The Complete Durham Report”

WASHINGTON – From July 26 to August 4, 2024, the 12^th annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival will be held on Capitol Hill and Embassy Row in Washington, D.C.; ACORN 8 is proud to partner with American University to host the award-winning festival this year. The theme for the event is "Media Matters—Whistleblowers, Investigative Journalists & Enterprise Reporting." The speakers and panel presentations will generally reflect this idea. 

“ACORN 8 was the first NGO to promote National Whistleblower Appreciation Day by hosting the Whistleblower Summit for Civil & Human Rights on Capitol Hill, that focused on whistleblower policy and legislation over a decade ago” says summit Co-Founder and AU SOC Alumni, Michael McCray. “This year, we are pleased to introduce National Whistleblower Appreciation to an entire new audience—the American University SOC community; through the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival, which highlights whistleblowers in journalism, investigative reporting and documentary or narrative filmmaking.”

We will explore the relationship and tension between sources and investigative journalists, which is essential for enterprising reporting. “Whistleblowers pay a very high price for speaking truth to power and for having integrity” says summit Co-Founder and Festival Director, Marcel Reid. “Publishers win Pulitzers, reporters become bestselling authors, but the whistleblowers often risk their lives and livelihood with little to nothing in return.” 

Professor Emeritus Randall Blair, Director (retired) of the Producing Film, Television & Video Program said, “the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival is a great example for our students because whistleblowers are essential to journalism and documentaries. After all the motto for the A.U. School of Communications is Media That Matters.”

Festival organizers will feature films about whistleblowers, the First Amendment or that touch on one or several human rights issues including freedom of expression, women’s rights, discrimination and more. This year's programming illuminates a wide array of storytelling that showcases talent and filmmakers alike. We are pleased to announce our official festival slate:

Film Submissions

1. CIA Drugs R Us! A Drugs as Weapons... Sequel – Directed by John L Potash
2. Manufacturing Madness – Directed by Gary Null, Valerie Van Cleve
3. The Program – Directed by Greg Nosaty
4. Kemba – Directed by Kelley Kali
5. Black, Queer & Done – Directed by Nyasha Daley
6. The Decree – Directed by Nejla Demirci
7. If It Could Happen to Me, It Could Happen to You – Directed by Gwendolyn Cassady
8. Countably Uncommon – Directed by Rich Dow
9. Real Fur – Directed by Taimoor Choudhry
10. Thank You, Amelia Earhart – Directed by Al Mertens
11. Manufacturing The Threat – Directed by Amy Miller
12. We Will Not Be Silenced – Directed by Luis Solarat
13. The Stars Know – Directed by Ohyeon Kwon
14. It Isn't JUST Politics – Directed by Liza Asner
15. No Farmers No Food: Will You Eat The Bugs? – Directed by Roman Balmakov
16. Ileana's Smile – Directed by Bradley J Corrigan
17. The Nine O'clock Whistle – Directed by Willa Cofield, Karen Riley
18. Raid on the Atlantic – Directed by Nicolas Van Ingen
19. The Lens of the Democracy – Directed by Jae-hyung KIM
20. $3,000 a Baby – Directed by Yi-baek Lee, Hyun-jung Lim
21. Code Blue – Directed by YURI HEO
22. Itaewon: after one year – Directed by Eunkyu Lee
23. Beyond Babi Yar – Directed by Eli Adler
24. UN-leaks – Directed by Riccardo Bagnato Bulgarelli (RSI)
25. Uprooted – Directed by Brandi Kellam
26. MORE THAN BROTHERS – Directed by Andrea von Siebenthal
27. Tuhaymani'chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) – Directed by Nils Cowan, Gina Milanovich
28. Call Them Athletes – Directed by Torin Jade Ives
29. A Clean Slate – Directed by Tran Hoang Calvin
30. Riots vs. Tsunamis – Directed by Robyn Killian
31. Run Away – Directed by Chico Bennett

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Screenplays

1. Tags – Written by Stephen Glickman
2. The Fourth Psalm – Written by John Martins III
3. Gun Shop – Written by Dominic Benson Landes
4. The River Between Us – Written by Sara Dahmen, Barbara Joosse
5. The Reconstruction of Huck Finn (Over Mark Twain's Dead Body!) – Written by Tim Plaehn
6. EVERYBODY KNOWS – Written by Rangeley Wallace

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Marcel Reid, Co-Founder and Festival Director said, “I hope the festival will continue to draw attention to whistleblowers, their powerful stories and their tremendous bravery.” 

Festival organizers are proud to open the summit on Capitol Hill where attendees can rub elbows with famous whistleblowers like Frank Serpico and Jeff Wigand or meet political leaders like Senator Charles Grassley or Former Representative Jackie Speier. However, the event will continue at American University and culminate at the National Press Club on July 30^th National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. 

The 12th Annual Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival takes place July 26 to August 4. More information can be found at www.whistleblowersummit.com The festival will be sponsored by Cemboo, a new platform which enables content owners to control, monetize and distribute their own digital media content. All panels and films will screen virtually through Cemboo on the website, whistleblowersummit.com. 

WSFF Daniel Ellsberg Tribute: https://vimeo.com/959130264?share=copy

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