Filmmakers Discuss Their Work at London’s First Investigative Film Week

Jan. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- London - The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) is proud to be hosting London’s first Investigative Film Week from 2-6 February at the Oliver Thompson Theatre, City University London.

The event will showcase some of the best investigative films and includes three UK premieres - Günter Wallraff: Black on White, Afghanistan: On the Dollar Trail and Flip The Coin: The Bitter Taste of Tea. Each of the six films will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers who will discuss the techniques and methodology used.

Films will be shown at 6.30pm weekdays and 3pm and 6.30pm on Saturday. The event is open to all and tickets are £5 full price and £4 concessions. Weekly passes are available.
The event is sponsored by the Lorana Sullivan Foundation.

Highlights

It will be the UK premiere for Günter Wallraff: Black on White (Schwarz auf Weiss) (6 February 6.30pm) is the new film by Germany’s legendary investigative journalist Günter Wallraff. Wallraff is famous for his unconventional investigative technique; covert filming and impersonation, both of which were used in this controversial documentary. Director, Pagonis Pagonakis, will be answering questions about how they made this film.

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno also use impersonation as a tool. In The Yes Men Fix the World (6 February 3pm) they pose as top executives of big corporations and cause all sorts of havoc – most famously when posing as a spokesperson for Dow Chemicals on BBC World News. They will be talking - via Skype - about how to make investigations fun.

There are two documentaries - Pig Business (2 February 6.30pm) and the UK premiere of Flip the Coin: The Bitter Taste of Tea (5 February 6.30pm) - that look at the grim realities of the global food industry. After the screenings the filmmakers will discuss the difficulties they faced making their films.

It will also be the UK premiere for Paul Moreira’s film Afghanistan: On the Dollar Trail (4 February 6.30pm), which investigates aid money corruption in the conflict-torn country.

BBC Panorama’s Undercover Nurse (3 February 6.30pm), is one of the best examples of how a whistleblower can be used to investigate a story. Producer, Liz Bloor will be discussing how to work with whistleblowers and the undercover nurse herself, Margaret Haywood will answer questions about her experience.

Film Week website: www.tcij.org/filmweek10

Contact
Marina Calland tel: 020 7040 8220 email: marina@tcij.org

About the CIJ
The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) is a registered charity (number 1118602) that was formed to address a deepening crisis in investigative reporting and in-house training in the mainstream media.
The CIJ provides high-level training, resources and research to journalists, researchers, non-governmental organisations, academics, graduate students and others interested in public integrity and the defence of the public interest. For more information visit: www.tcij.org

All proceeds from the Film Week ticket sales will go towards CIJ training events.

The event is sponsored by the Lorana Sullivan Foundation.

The Lorana Sullivan Foundation
The Lorana Sullivan Foundation was established as twin charities in New York and in Britain with an endowment from Lorana Sullivan’s will to enhance the role and education of women in business and financial reporting, and generally to improve the standards of investigative journalism.

The foundation, which sponsors the CIJ London Summer School, provides two scholarships a year for students to follow in her footsteps at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. It is one of the biggest donors to the graduate school and has so far awarded six Sullivan scholarships.

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About CIJ
The Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) is a registered charity (number 1118602) that was formed to address a deepening crisis in investigative reporting and in-house training in the mainstream media.
The CIJ provides high-level training, resources and research to journalists, researchers, non-governmental organisations, academics, graduate students and others interested in public integrity and the defence of the public interest. For more information visit: www.tcij.org