OPENING PLENARY
July 27, 2026
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
9:00 – 10:00 AM
NASGA GUARDIANSHIP (COZ) PANEL — UNITY BETRAYED
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
10:00 – 11:00 AM
NAACP FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION OF VULNERABLE ELDERLY
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK — LIVE FILM SCREENING AND NCUA VS. PEOPLE'S TRUST FCU DISCUSSION
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
12:00 – 1:00 PM
THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK
The Barber of Little Rock
1:00 – 3:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
THE BAD GUARDIAN — LIVE FILM SCREENING AND PANEL DISCUSSION
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
1:00 – 3:00 PM
FILMMAKER Q&A
45 Independence Avenue SW, Room 2168 (The Gold Room) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
3:00 – 4:00 PM
BOOK SIGNINGS
Busboys & Poets: Author Signings & Film Screenings
6:00 – 7:00 PM
THE STANDARD — LIVE FILM SCREENING
Busboys & Poets: Author Signings & Film Screenings
7:00 – 8:00 PM
FILMMAKER Q&A
Busboys & Poets: Author Signings & Film Screenings
8:00 – 9:00 PM
THE BAD GUARDIAN
After her father is placed under a court-appointed guardian, a daughter races against time to save him from the very system meant to protect him.
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
THE STANDARD
The Standard uncovers the untold history of Alpha Phi Alpha at the University of Missouri and the Black men who confronted institutional racism head on, refusing to stay silent in the face of barriers built to keep them out.
9:00 – 11:00 PM
July 28, 2026
GAP — OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL PANEL
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
10:00 – 11:00 AM
FOLLOW THE PIPLINE (CHARLOTTE DENNETT) — JIP PANEL
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
GAP — INVESTIGATE GENERAL PANEL
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
12:00 – 1:00 PM
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING PANEL (RHONDA HAMILTON)
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
1:00 – 2:00 PM
70% INFORMALS
70% Informals, uncovers the hidden global majority where billions live without rights or security. Spanning continents, the film reveals the human cost of informality and follows economist Elena Panaritis as she presents a hopeful path from invisibility to dignity and inclusion.
1:00 – 3:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
WHISTLEBLOWER OMBUDSMAN OFFICE PANEL
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
2:00 – 3:00 PM
U.S. MARSHALS V DOJ — UNJUST SETTLEMENT
45 Independence Avenue SW, (Room 2044) Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
3:00 – 4:00 PM
WHISTLEBLOWER COMEDY SHOW MEET UP
@ Busboys & Poets for Comedy Night
6:00 – 7:00 PM
SCENT EVIDENCE
Logline: Are you lacking evidence but aspiring to excel in solving criminal cases? The system offers a captivating solution: a dog.
Among the law enforcement and judicial methods with very high relevance in the evidentiary proceedings of many ex-communist states, the so-called “scent evidence” is included. Its main protagonist is a dog, which convicts the perpetrator. This method originated in the former GDR and was initially secretly employed by the German police against political dissent. Over the years, it became domesticated as one of the accepted strong evidentiary methods, and its acceptance extended to the law enforcement and judicial practices of democratic states in many Eastern Bloc countries. In the Czech Republic, the result of a “scent evidence” alone is sufficient as evidence to convict a perpetrator, even for the most serious crimes. Within the scientific community, there is a growing, fact-supported resistance against the uncritical use of this method, while possibly hundreds of innocent individuals spend their sentences in prisons…
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
THE GREEN GLITCH
The Green Glitch: What's Behind the Devil's Lettuce is a 2026 documentary film and published book by author and educator Jason Tremko. The film examines how the rapid commercialization and ultra-high THC levels of modern cannabis create a dangerous glitch in the system. There is a widening gap between public perception, policy and the reality of modern marijuana. The film emphasizes how our youth are becoming a silenced generation at the forefront of marijuana addiction. This is happening silently, while 70% of the public push to legalize without considering what is happening in the lives of young people.
9:00 – 11:00 PM
July 29, 2026
CAPITOL HILL LOBBY DAY
U.S. Capitol Complex | Washington, DC
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
THE PROTOCOL OF PEACE
The Protocol of Peace is a rigorous, 43-minute fine art conceptual film that investigates the moral failures and psychological costs of the modern systems we build to enforce silence. Structured as a series of interwoven monologues delivered over poetic, restrained found footage, the narrative follows one voice's unsettling journey from a childhood lie to an adult act of conscience. By exposing the hidden machinery of institutional violence and the reality of the "unlisted death," this striking film navigates the dark shadow of American power, refusing to offer a comfortable or simple resolution.
1:00 – 3:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
C4C — SHIFTING LANDSCAPE OF CR ENFORCEMENT (TANYA WARD JORDAN)
Busboys & Poets: Film Screenings
6:00 – 7:00 PM
FALL OF THE BOOGALOO (EPISODE 1)
Capitol Hill Lobby Day @ Various Congressional Offices
Busboys & Poets: Film Screenings
7:00 – 8:00 PM
KAMA KAWA
Set in the coastal town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania, Kama Kawa follows artists — from a gumboot dance crew to painters and musicians — as they prepare for a local arts festival and reveal a shared belief: art is a free state of mind.
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Film Festival Virtual Screening
FILMMAKER Q&A
Capitol Hill Lobby Day @ Various Congressional Offices
Busboys & Poets: Film Screenings
8:00 – 9:00 PM
BERKELEY DAYS
1968, when a girl from Taiwan married a physicist in Berkeley, she found herself thrown into a turmoil of student movements, love, sacrifice, and betrayal.
9:00 – 11:00 PM
July 30, 2026
WHISTLEBLOWERS OF AMERICA KIDS CAMP
George Washington University, Auditorium L401, 2000 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
WHISTLEBLOWER DAY LUNCHEON MEET UP
Supra Restaurant, 1205 11th Street, NW, Washington DC 20001.
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
THE MISSING 4:07
“When the black box fell silent, 35 cameras began to speak.” On December 29, 2024, Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashed during a go-around attempt at Muan International Airport in South Korea, killing 179 people. But when investigators accessed the flight recorder, they discovered that its data had stopped exactly 4 minutes and 7 seconds before impact. The aircraft’s final moments—its altitude, engines, configuration, and the captain’s life-or-death decisions—had vanished.
The Missing 4:07, produced by KBS, is Korea’s first documentary to independently reconstruct an aviation disaster that the black box failed to capture. This two-part investigation marks a breakthrough in public-interest journalism: gathering raw civilian footage, converting it into measurable spatial data, and rebuilding the missing trajectory through scientific, verifiable methods long considered beyond the reach of news media.
1:00 – 3:00 PM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB: PILLAR AWARDS & SOLIDARITY DINNER
Dinner & Awards Presentations | National Press Club Member Tour
6:00 – 7:00 PM
BENEATH THE BADGE
The documentary examines how police officer and public servants navigate scrutiny, institutional pressures, and the consequences of decisions made under extraordinary circumstances, raising important questions about accountability, justice, and the search for truth.
7:00 – 9:00 PM
CLAIM THE SKY: WE SHALL OVERCOME
CLAIM THE SKY - WE SHALL OVERCOME is an investigative documentary that uncovers the hidden history behind one of the most influential songs in the world, We Shall Overcome. For decades, the song's origins were attributed to a handful of prominent folk figures. Through newly uncovered documents, exclusive interviews, and a landmark federal lawsuit that ultimately placed the song in the public domain, filmmaker Isaias Gamboa follows a decades-long search for the truth. The film reveals how overlooked voices, buried evidence, and institutional power shaped the story of an anthem that inspired freedom movements across the globe.
9:00 – 11:00 PM