Leslie Knott is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, producer, and storyteller known for her impactful documentaries and dedication to human rights and social issues. With a career that spans over two decades, Knott has built a reputation for her ability to craft compelling narratives that shed light on marginalized communities and pressing global challenges.
In 2012 she co-founded the award-winning production company, Tiger Nest Films. Her first film "Out of the Ashes," (BBC Storyville) chronicled the rise of the Afghan national cricket team and their quest to qualify for the World Cup. Recently her film “With This Breath I Fly” won more than a dozen Best International Documentary awards at festivals worldwide. Her documentaries often serve as catalysts for change, sparking conversations and inspiring action on critical issues such as gender equality, refugee crises, and conflict resolution. She continues to push the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, using her platform to amplify the voices of those who are often overlooked.
Her work not only entertains but also educates and empowers audiences, making a lasting impact on the global community. Her recent film, Ukraine’s War: The Other Side recently won the Best Documentary award at the Monte Carlo Television Awards in 2024. The film has its global premier at DocEdge in New Zealand in June 2024. In September 2024, Leslie will join the
UBC School of Journalism as a visiting professor in documentary filmmaking.
Alessia Cerantola is the Editorial director of Investigate Europe. Before she worked for four years as editorial coordinator and staff reporter focused on Big Tobacco with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). She began her career working with the magazine Internazionale, bringing Japanese news to an Italian audience. She reported from Japan for fifteen years for Italian publications like Il Sole 24 Ore and Il Fatto Quotidiano and with radio features for the BBC World Service. The Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK, featured Alessia in a two-part documentary about her reporting on the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Fukushima. She worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Panama Papers investigation.
Back in Rome, she worked with La7 TV news and for Report, the flagship investigative program of Italy’s public broadcaster, RAI. For her investigation on counterfeit Parma ham she was featured in Stanley Tucci’s food show for CNN, Searching for Italy. She has reported from Europe and Asia for publications including The Intercept, the Guardian, The Atlantic and The Japan Times. In 2013, she spent three months on a solo road trip around the United States funded by a fellowship from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
She co-founded the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI) and with her colleagues she investigated a serial rapist. The story later made into a serialised podcast for Verified, and a documentary series for Sky TV. In 2012, she won the Press Freedom Award, granted by UNESCO and Reporters Without Borders - Austria, for a piece she wrote exposing the economic exploitation of Italian freelance journalists. Alessia has Master degrees in Oriental Studies, Journalism and Corporate Finance.
Otto Hostettler has been a full-time journalist for over 30 years and has worked as an editor/staff reporter for the Beobachter Magazine in Zürich since 2007. He writes about white-collar crime, the pharmaceutical industry, consumer issues and about victims of the authorities from Switzerland (Verdingkinder, fürsorgerische Zwangsmassnahmen) and victims of catholic priests. He has received several awards for his research, including the Zurich Prize of Journalism (2011) for articles on the fate of children in foster care.
He is the author of "Underground Economy; Wie Cyberkriminelle Wirtschaft und Staaten bedrohen" (published by NZZ Libro/FAZ Buch) and "Darknet; Die Schattenwelt des Internets" (published by NZZ Libro).
He teaches at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Open Source Intelligence) and at Swiss Radio and Television SRF and CH Media (research). Otto Hostettler is co-founder of the non-profit organisation Lobbywatch.ch and was Co-President until 2024.