Documentaries:
Scripting the Unscripted

Sunday, September 14, 2025
Time: 12:30-2pm
Pike County Public Library – free event

Don't Look Away documentary by Joseph Lingad

Don’t Look Away by Joseph Lingad, Writer/Director/Producer

Filmmaker Joseph Lingad will show the 35-minute film-festival favorite Don’t Look Away, before sharing with the audience the documentary’s raw first-draft script, and explaining how he got from A to X. A rare opportunity to see how a documentary goes from rough script draft to polished take on the screen.

Audience: Budding filmmakers and anyone curious to understand how documentaries are crafted behind the scenes.

Joseph Lingad, Writer/Director/Producer

Joseph Lingad started his career as a video journalist & filmmaker when he was hired by The Wall Street Journal in 2011 to produce personal financial videos. Joseph then worked with its sister companies, MarketWatch and Barron’s. After a decade working in the newsroom, Joseph returned to school in 2022 to obtain a master’s in journalism and documentary. As his Capstone project, Joseph developed a 35-minute version of “Don’t Look Away,” which follows a 37-year-old man with over 50 reconstructive craniofacial surgeries, seeking normalcy, friendships, and love in a swipe-left, swipe-right world.

Joseph is now developing a feature-length version of “Don’t Look Away,” inspired by his struggle living with a facial difference.