Producer Rae de Leon’s (’14) “Victim/Suspect” to screen at the Sundance Film Festival

Reporter and producer Rae de Leon’s (’14) new documentary, “Victim/Suspect,” will screen as an official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Documentary Competition.

The film is the result of a four-year investigation and features a first-of-its-kind case study of investigations in which police charged self-reporting sexual assault and rape victims with a crime.

Rae de Leon (’14)

“Victim/Suspect” follows de Leon as she uncovers a shocking nationwide pattern: Young women tell the police they’ve been sexually assaulted, but instead of finding justice, they’re charged with making a false report, arrested and even imprisoned.

“I’m eternally grateful to these young women and their loved ones for trusting me with their stories,” de Leon said. “I’ve been investigating this issue for four years, so it is an incredible honor to premiere our work on this platform.”

Elena Neale-Sacks (’22), Betty Márquez Rosales (’20) and Skyler Glover (’21) were researchers on the documentary. Myah Overstreet (’23) and Buddy Terry (’23) were production assistants on local shoots.

The documentary was produced in partnership with Motto Pictures and the Center for Investigative Reporting Studios as a Netflix original film. It was directed by Nancy Schwartzman (“Roll Red Roll”).

The film will be available to watch both in person in Park City, Utah, and online. The Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 19-29.

In the coming months, CIR will feature additional multiplatform reporting from de Leon’s investigation, including a digital article and a radio documentary for the radio show and podcast, Reveal.