Gabriel García Márquez Inspires First Floodlight Summit, Marrying Investigative Journalism With Fiction Filmmaking

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The first Floodlight Summit will take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 in Cartagena, Colombia.

The event, curated and organized by Philippa Kowarsky and Alesia Weston, is a one-of-a-kind pilot for a long-term alliance that seeks to connect investigative journalists and their reporting with the film and television industry.

The event has been established by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Gabo Foundation as part of both institutions’ public interest focus.

It will attempt “to nurture a symbiotic relationship between investigative journalism and fiction filmmaking that will result in storytelling that entertains, educates, and inspires,” according to a press statement. “Investigative journalists can help adapt their extensive reporting about organized crime and corruption into new formats to reach more audiences while filmmakers can pull from a wealth of content and expertise across subjects to inform their projects.” Writer-director Rodrigo García, Gabo Foundation board member and son of author Gabriel García Marquez, has been closely involved in the Floodlight pilot, consulting with the curators. “This is the kind of thing that would make my father crazy with excitement: the marriage of cinema and journalism, two of the great loves of his life,” said García. “And he would be equally thrilled to be on the pitching side and the listening side.