The third annual Floodlight Summit convened participants from more than 25 countries in Cartagena, Colombia, from December 5-7. The intimate setting of the invitation-only Summit fosters unique cross-sector collaboration between international filmmakers and the world’s top investigative journalists. For three days, participants explore how to turn high-stakes, real-world reporting into compelling fictional adaptations.
Thirteen 2025 Floodlight Select Journalists presented their investigative journalism, which made major revelations about some of the most pressing challenges of our time: a jaw-dropping corporate playbook for global disinformation campaigns, an unprecedented look into the inner workings of a cyberfraud industry that costs the public hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and the story of how a Russian organized crime group hijacked the election process in an Eastern European country.
“Despite an alarming new era of escalated attacks on press freedom, the Floodlight Select Journalists are reporting in exile, from war zones, and against all odds,” said Floodlight and OCCRP Co-Founder Paul Radu. “The Floodlight Summit acts as a vital nerve center where top journalists and filmmakers connect to serve the public interest and inspire the next generation of investigators with their work.”
This year’s journalists were: Bryan Avelar (freelance, Mexico/Central America), Sebastián Barragán (Aristegui Noticias, Mexico), Aubrey Belford (OCCRP), Kelly Bloss (OCCRP), Anuj Chopra (Agence France-Presse), Steven Dudley (Insight Crime, U.S.), Anna Gielewska (VSquare.org/FRONTSTORY.PL, Poland), Yanina Korniienko (Slidstvo.Info, Ukraine), Hoda Osman (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism), Alina Radu (Ziarul de Gardă, Moldova), Holger Roonemaa (OCCRP/Delfi.ee, Estonia), Khadija Sharife (freelance, South Africa), Julia Wallace (OCCRP), and Torbjörn Wester (freelance, Sweden).
Established by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Gabo Foundation, and film industry veterans Philippa Kowarsky and Alesia Weston, Floodlight is a year-round initiative that serves as a unique link between the journalism and entertainment industries. Several development deals are now in progress from the previous two Floodlight Summits.
Filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers in attendance included Anne Carey (The American, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Dooho Choi (Snowpiercer, Mickey 17), Lucia Puenzo (XXY, The German Doctor), Dana Stevens (The Woman King, For Love of the Game), Sameh Zoabi (Tel Aviv on Fire, The Accused), and Rob Bullock (Department Q, The Night Manager).
"The Floodlight Summit is a real-world singularity,” said multi-award-winning writer, producer, and showrunner Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers, Mission Impossible). “It is the one place where filmmakers can meet with the true heroes of our time: the investigative journalists who repeatedly risk their lives to expose and express the truth. What's equally incredible is the range of their deeply reported, jaw-dropping journalism that spans the globe."
Every Floodlight Summit includes lively discussions with top-level panelists on topics including the nitty-gritty of investigative reporting, the challenge of translating real-life stories onto screens, and the crossover between the journalism and entertainment industries.
This year, panelists included Oscar-nominated screenwriter Luke Davies (Lion, Beautiful Boy), Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Lowell Bergman (The New York Times, 60 Minutes, portrayed in The Insider by Al Pacino), legendary Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui, and British author and reporter Carole Cadwalladr, who helped expose the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
In a joint statement, Floodlight’s Co-Directors Alesia Weston and Philippa Kowarsky said: "The investigations we selected for this year’s Summit lend themselves to such varied forms, from international art-house cinema to Hollywood films to streaming television series. This diversity of creative avenues gave us a rare opportunity to convene an unusually diverse group of storytellers across countries, genres, styles, and approaches.”
“As the Gabo Foundation marks thirty years of supporting storytellers and pushing the boundaries of journalism, Floodlight carries forward the legacy that Gabriel García Márquez championed: transforming verified reality into stories capable of crossing borders and stirring consciences,” said Gabo Foundation Director Jaime Abello Banfi. “Bringing reporters and filmmakers together is not only an artistic endeavor — it is a way of ensuring that vital narratives do not disappear in the shadows.”
For more information, contact [email protected].
For a chance to be a part of the next Floodlight Summit, journalists can submit a proposal here.
Photo caption above: Entertainment industry panelists Luke Davies (Lion, Beautiful Boy), Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers, Mission Impossible), Roman Paul (Quo Vadis, Aida? Waltz with Bashir), and Lucia Puenzo (XXY, The German Doctor) discuss adapting real stories for the screen.
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ABOUT FLOODLIGHT
Launched in 2023, Floodlight connects investigative reporting with the film and television industry to produce informed fiction in the public interest. We source and curate a selection of the most riveting investigations from top journalists, shape the material, and present it to leading filmmakers and television series creators for adaptations into rich stories. Created by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Gabo Foundation, and film industry professionals, Floodlight is a new approach to storytelling.
ABOUT OCCRP
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is one of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world, headquartered in Amsterdam and with staff across six continents. We are a mission-driven nonprofit newsroom that partners with other media outlets to publish stories that lead to real-world action. Founded by veteran investigative reporters Drew Sullivan and Paul Radu in 2007, OCCRP collaborates with international media outlets to publish 100+ stories a year that hold power to account. OCCRP investigations have helped return over $11 billion in illicitly acquired funds to the public sphere and led to more than 700 arrests, sentences, and indictments. Sullivan and Radu oversee investigative documentaries and are executive producers of the 2022 award-winning film, “The Killing of a Journalist.”
ABOUT GABO
The Gabo Foundation is an international non-profit created by Gabriel García Márquez (Gabo) in 1994. The Foundation's mission is to foster an active and better-informed citizenry by promoting the ethical and creative use of storytelling, inspired by the legacy of its founder and his workshop method. Over the past decade, the Foundation has led the preservation and promotion of Gabriel García Márquez’s legacy. Best known today as an inveterate storyteller and Nobel laureate, Márquez began his career as an investigative reporter and went on to work in film before he changed writing forever with his timeless stories. Floodlight honors Gabo's spirit by uniting the power of film with the gritty realism of investigative reporting.