Deep Focus is an experimental lab for non-fiction storytelling, and is a collaboration between the CIJ,  Abandon Normal Devices (AND) and the Center for Artistic Inquiry and Reporting (CAIR). Deep Focus will support journalists, artists and filmmakers based in the UK to uncover new and diverse ways to shape compelling non-fiction films.

We have put together this programme to create a space for collaboration and to support storytellers who want to make impactful works that address important issues. Deep Focus will equip a hand-picked cohort of 9 early career professionals with a range of investigative tools and tactics to experiment with peers. Participants will be encouraged to interrogate the unsettling rise of misinformation, extreme online communities, conspiracies and the ominous influence of online personalities.

Hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Digital Arts (SODA), the lab will feature workshops, guest lectures and trainings delivered by external practitioners and creatives. We will also run a series of social events and a screening of short non-fiction films which will be open to the public. The lab will take place on the 6th and 7th December 2024 at SODA’s building in Manchester.  Following on from the in person lab, we will run a short series of online training and mentoring sessions. Delivered in partnership with and supported by SODA and Arts Council England.

If you would like to know more about Deep Focus please email: jake@tcij.org

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