The Double Exposure Film Festival, the nation’s only festival devoted exclusively to investigative cinema, returns to Washington, D.C. for its 12th edition from Nov. 5‑8. The festival’s theme, “On the Record: Evidence in an Age of Doubt,” highlights films that expose threats to democracy at home and abroad.
Opening Night and Featured Screenings
Opening night begins at 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 5 with the U.S. premiere of The Oligarch and the Art Dealer by Andreas Dalsgaard. The documentary follows a Swiss art dealer who builds a private collection for a Russian oligarch, revealing hidden assets stored in “freeport” vaults. The screening takes place at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center theater (555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW) and will be followed by a talkback with Dalsgaard and an opening‑night party.
Friday night’s Spotlight Selection, My NDA, directed by Juliane Dressner and Miriam Shor, examines how non‑disclosure agreements are weaponized to silence whistleblowers. The film screens at 8 p.m. in the U.S. Navy Memorial Theater (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW).
The Centerpiece Selection, Kikuyu Land (directed by Andrew Brown and Bea Wangondu), follows a Kenyan man’s legal fight to reclaim ancestral tea‑farm land seized under British colonial rule. It will be shown on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bloomberg Center theater.
Closing Night on Nov. 8 features Marisa Fox‑Bevilaqua’s documentary My Underground Mother, which uncovers the hidden traumas of Jewish women’s camps during the Holocaust through a daughter’s investigative journey. The screening and a Q&A with the director will be held at the U.S. Navy Memorial.
Additional Slate Highlights
The festival also presents My Brother’s Killer, a look at the murder of gay adult‑film performer Billy London; Crime & Parody, about an Ohio comedian’s clash with police; and The Secret Reading Club of Kabul, documenting Afghan women’s secret reading gatherings under Taliban rule.
Ian Urbina’s Rhapsody on the Outlaw Ocean and Sine Plambech’s U.S. premiere of Rescue explore lawlessness on the high seas and a Libyan family’s refugee journey. Galassia Grassetto’s In The Sludge War investigates the use of treated sewage sludge (biosolids) across the United States, while Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals for a Revolution profiles an Iranian exile’s mentors of resistance.
Community Programs and Public Forum
Double Exposure has partnered with the D.C. Public Library to offer free short‑film screenings and filmmaker conversations. On Nov. 7, Mark Graham, director of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, will lead two sessions on using archived records for research and family history.
The festival’s professional symposium has been reshaped as a public forum, teaching attendees how to request public records, document local events, and spot doctored media. A full schedule is available on the festival’s website.
Tickets and passes are on sale now, with additional titles to be announced next week. For more information, visit dxfest.com.
Original reporting: The Washington Informer — read the source article.
