Doc Talks: Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller
Join us for an intimate and candid fireside conversation with filmmakers Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller, who will discuss the timeliness of their film, They’re Here about a Minneapolis community during a wave of ICE raids.
Description
Join us for an intimate and candid fireside conversation with filmmakers Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller, who will discuss the timeliness of their film, They’re Here about a Minneapolis community during a wave of ICE raids.
About the Film
They’re Here (Part of Shorts Block: Sensory Experience)
Laura Poitras, Rachel Lauren Mueller (USA 2026, 25 min)
When masked ICE agents descend on Minneapolis, neighbors mobilize, tracking the movements of officers to protect one another.
Attendee Information
Doc Talks is a series of filmmaker conversations exploring both the creative and practical realities of documentary storytelling. They feature acclaimed directors and producers sharing insights into their process and strategy, and are designed for both filmmakers and film lovers. Please RSVP as soon as possible if you would like to attend. This event will be overbooked to ensure full attendance, with admission available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins; we recommend arriving early to secure your spot. Note: This is a 21+ venue with a bar, all guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend.
DOC STORIES LOUNGE SPONSORED BY
Biographies
Laura Poitras is an Academy Award®, Pulitzer Prize, and Golden Lion winning filmmaker and journalist. Her 2025 film, Cover-Up, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and was nominated for BAFTA, DGA and Emmy awards. Her previous film, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award®. Her film CITIZENFOUR won an Academy Award® for Best Documentary, along with awards from DGA, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit Award. Laura received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her reporting on the National Security Agency’’s global mass surveillance programs. Her film about the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq, My Country, My Country, was nominated for an Academy Award®. In 2006, she was placed on a terrorist watchlist because of her work documenting post-9/11 America. In 2015 she successfully sued the U.S. government to obtain her classified FBI files.
Rachel Lauren Mueller is a documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist whose work examines power and identity. Her films and reporting have appeared in The New York Times, PBS, and Al Jazeera. Her short documentary 8 Days at Ware (Double Exposure, 2022), alongside her New York Times investigation into abuse cover-ups in a juvenile detention center, was recognized by the Dart Center for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma, shortlisted for a Livingston Award, and received multiple honors for investigative reporting and documentary. Her debut feature, The Quiet Part (post production), will explore how extremism becomes normalized through the arrival of a pagan white supremacist group in a rural Midwestern town.