Jess Search, co-founder of the Doc Society, formerly BRITDOC, a valuable partner and friend of the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) Series, passed away last Monday.
Doc Society created and ran the Good Pitch, which partners films with advocates, NGOs, community organisers, foundations and brands. In this space, and thanks to her, the IACC Series began a long-standing collaboration with the DocSociety, quickly becoming the main partner of our Films 4 Transparency (F4T) Initiative, the unique film festival aiming to raise awareness on issues of corruption, injustice, human rights violations and the demise of public accountability. Together with the IACC team, she curated the F4T festivals.
Thanks to the carefully curated international programme, the F4T has operated as an amplifier to the issues tackled during each IACC. Jess was also our star moderator during many IACCs.
Thanks to her, the F4T festivals stood out due to the high calibre of the featured films, many of which would later go on to win the most important awards in the industry. Credits include Oscar-nominated CITIZENFOUR, which broke the Edward Snowden revelations, and executive produced Virunga (DRC), Whose Streets (US) and Hooligan Sparrow (China), among others.
We owe Jess a lot, but mostly we will forever thank her for the trust she gave us and the passion she injected into us. You will be missed!
Jess left a beautiful and thought-provoking message to everyone. If you haven’t read it yet, we are honoured to post it below:
An Announcement From Jess Search: No Time Like The Present – https://docsociety.org/announcement-from-jess-search/
