How might we imagine more morally courageous versions of our most controversial public figures? Can we imagine apologies from our opponents, that would no longer render them our opponents? Join us for a discussion on online accountability that solicits feeling, imagination, and critical observation with artist Stephanie Lepp & documentarian Kat Cizek of MIT’s Open Documentary Lab. Drawing from Lepp’s Deep Reckonings, a series of explicitly-marked DeepFakes that imagine notorious figures seeking forgiveness, this conversation will explore the mechanics of redemption and fruits of compassion in the landscape of call-out culture. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to script your own 'deep reckoning' for the public figure of your choice.

This event will include closed captioning. ASL interpretation and CART captioning are available by requests made at least four business days prior to the program.

Stephanie Lepp is an artist and producer whose work strives to hold up a mirror — inviting us to grow from what we see. She's the producer of Reckonings, a narrative podcast that explores how we change our hearts and minds. Her latest work is Deep Reckonings, a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine morally courageous versions of our public figures. Infinite Lunchbox is her studio for socially-engaged art.

Katerina Cizek is a Peabody and two-time Emmy-winning documentarian. Based in Toronto Canada, she is the artistic director and co-founder of the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab. At the studio, she wrote (with Uricchio et al.) the world’s first field study on co-creating media called Collective Wisdom (forthcoming with MIT Press). For over a decade, Cizek worked as a documentary director at the National Film Board of Canada, transforming the organization into a world-leading digital hub, with the projects HIGHRISE and Filmmaker-in-Residence. Both community-based and globally recognized, these two ground-breaking long-form digital projects garnered international awards and critical acclaim. Cizek is a member of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, has served as an advisor at the Sundance Institutes’ New Frontier Lab and Stories of Change Program as well as CPH:DOX and ESoDoc. She is a founding member of the Guild of Future Architects, a member of the editorial collective at IMMERSE.