Join us for a screening of Icarus II and Q&A with the film's cinematographer and SOJC alumni Jake Swantko (Journalism, '11). Icarus II is the documentary sequel to the Oscar-winning 2017 film Icarus, a documentary that explored amateur cycling doping but turned into a thriller when it exposed Russia's vast doping conspiracy.

Icarus: The Aftermath follows Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov over five years, documenting his life in hiding and the continued fallout from the state-sponsored doping scandal. The film premiered at the 49th Telluride Film Festival.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film's producer and cinematographer. 

This screening is for members of the UO community only. 

This event is co-sponsored by the Jon Anderson Chair Fund and co-sponsored and organized by the UO School of Journalism and Communication Documentary Film Production Minor. 

About Jake Swantko

Jake Swantko is a director of photography and BAFTA-nominated producer based in New York City. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in journalism and communication. He is also a winner of UOSOJC 2021 Eric allen Oustanding Young Alumni Award. 

Swantko has worked on five documentary films that have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: Manhunt (2013), We are the Giant (2014), Entrapped (2016), Icarus (2017), and The Dissident (2020).

At the 2017 Sundance Festival Icarus garnered a Special Jury Prize, the first ever “Orwell Award”. The award edict follows “in a world of post-truth, doublespeak, and alternative facts, the jury decided to create the Orwell Award to recognize a film that reveals the truth at a time when the truth is no longer a commodity.”

Icarus would go on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2018, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and be nominated for a BAFTA and Primetime Emmy.

The Dissident (2020) marked Swantko’s second collaboration with Director Bryan Fogel (Icarus) and his first role as Producer on a feature documentary film. Financed by the Human Rights Foundation, the film details the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2nd, 2018 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Despite universal critical acclaim with the Associated Press calling it: “Searing, explosive. An immaculately assembled real-life thriller”, The Dissident’s “truth to power” tone and controversial subject matter led the film to be passed on by all major streaming services.

Swantko has worked for HBO Documentary Films, National Geographic Television, Nike, Passion Pictures, PBS Frontline, and Time Magazine. He is certified by RISC (Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues) in conflict zone medical training.