The Grab
An investigative journalist uncovers the money, influence and alarming rationale behind covert efforts to control the most vital resource on the planet.
From the Center for Investigative Reporting Studios and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
“This is the ‘holy s&%t’ documentary of the year.”
“Astonishing, eye-opening … unspools like a thriller in one sense and a dystopian science fiction movie in another.”
“Paced like a sleek, complex international thriller, where nothing less than the future of the world is at stake.”
For more information about THE GRAB, including air dates, screening possibilities and more, please contact Amanda Pike, director of TV and documentaries, at apike@revealnews.org.
In the meantime, please sign up for news and other exciting developments about THE GRAB:
Upcoming Screenings
Where can you watch THE GRAB?
It’s coming soon! Please check back for details about where you will be able to watch THE GRAB in a theater near you or from your own home. For now, please join us in person for one of the following festivals:
Friday Harbor Film Festival
Oct. 27-29, 2023
San Diego Film Festival
Oct. 12-15, 2023
Bend Film Festival
Oct. 12-15, 2023
Heartland Film Festival
Oct. 12-14, 2023
Port Townsend Film Festival
Sept. 22-25, 2023
New Zealand International Film Festival
July 19-Sept. 10, 2023
Boulder Environmental Nature Outdoors Film Festival
July 14, 2023
Festival CinemAmbiente, Italy
June 5-11, 2023
Brazil Ecofalante Environmental Film Festival
June 3-9, 2023
Mountainfilm Festival, Telluride, CO
Winner: Audience Choice Award
May 26-28, 2023
Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival
May 27, 2023
Seattle Film Festival
May 19-20, 2023
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
April 29, 2023
Filmfest DC
April 21 and 26, 2023
Hamptons Doc Fest
April 15, 2023
RiverRun International Film Festival
April 13-22, 2023
Hampton’s Doc Fest
April 14-16, 2023
Milwaukee Film Festival
April 20-May 4, 2023
Salem Film Fest
Winner: Audience Award
March 23-April 2, 2023
Cleveland International Film Festival
March 22-April 1, 2023
Sonoma International Film Festival
Winner: Grand Jury Award: Best Documentary
March 22-26, 2023
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
March 16-26, 2023
CPH:DOX
March 15-26, 2023
Human Rights Watch Canada Film Festival – Hot Docs Cinema
March 8-19, 2023
Human International Documentary Film Festival
March 6-12, 2023
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Feb. 17-26, 2023
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Feb. 8-18, 2023
Sedona International Film Festival
Winner: Best Investigative Documentary
Feb. 18-26, 2023
Tromso International Film Festival
Jan. 16-22, 2023
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Jan. 5-16, 2023
Hamptons Doc Fest
Dec. 1-6, 2022
Stockholm International Film Festival
Nov. 9-20, 2022
DOC NYC
Nov. 9-27, 2022
Denver Film Festival
Nov. 2-13, 2022
Philadelphia Film Festival
Honorable Mention for Truth to Power
Oct. 19-30, 2022
Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival
Opening Night Film
Oct. 13-16, 2022
Mill Valley Film Festival
Winner: Audience Favorite Documentary
Oct. 6-16, 2022
Toronto International Film Festival
Sept. 8-18, 2022
Press Coverage
‘The Grab’ Review: Exposing a Nearly Invisible Conspiracy to Control the World’s Food and Water
Variety/Peter Debruge
‘The Grab’ Review: A Gripping and Timely Look at Land Grabs and Investigative Journalism
The Hollywood Reporter/Daniel Fienberg
TIFF 2022: Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Eye-Opening New Doc ‘The Grab’
FirstShowing/Alex Billington
The Grab’s Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Nate Halverson on Their Urgent Exposé
Point of View Magazine/Pat Mullen
‘This is where WW III starts’: ‘The Grab’ filmmaker on the urgent scarcity created by the powerful
Salon/Gary M. Kramer
Mill Valley Film Fest: Gripping ‘The Grab’ documentary traces invisible conspiracy to control the world’s water
The Mercury News/Randy Myers
‘Knives Out’ sequel, Spielberg’s latest and 19 more major premieres at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival
Los Angeles Times/Mark Olsen
‘The Grab’ gets deep into the shadowy roots of a global food crisis
San Francisco Chronicle/Jessica Zack
The Grab
Next Best Picture/Nadia Dalimonte
‘The Grab’ Review: A startling exposé six years in the making
Far Out Magazine/Monica Reid
About the Team
Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Writer / Director / Producer
Gabriela Cowperthwaite has been directing documentaries and narrative films for over 20 years. She rose to prominence with the 2013 release of “Blackfish,” which examined the plight of orcas and their trainers at SeaWorld. “Blackfish” quickly became one of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time and helped permanently change the captive industry. The film was shortlisted for an Academy Award and nominated for a BAFTA Award. Most recently, Cowperthwaite completed “ISS,” a space station thriller starring Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose. Her critically acclaimed film “Our Friend,” starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson and Jason Segel, was released in 2021. “Megan Leavey,” which marked Cowperthwaite’s narrative directorial debut, is based on the true life story of a Marine corporal (Kate Mara) whose unique bond with her military combat dog saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq.
Nate Halverson, Producer / Lead Reporter
Nate Halverson is an Emmy Award-winning senior reporter and producer at The Center for Investigative Reporting, covering business and finance with an emphasis on the global food system. He has reported across the world, including Russia, Guatemala, England, Zambia, China and Venezuela, and on investigative topics ranging from financial fraud to organized crime and internal company documents that helped result in people receiving a $155 million settlement. Halverson broke the international news that California was literally sinking, a result of farmers overpumping groundwater in the drought-stricken Central Valley. He revealed the Saudi government’s plan to support the acquisition of food and water resources around the world and reported on classified cables from the U.S. State Department that detailed the growing anxiety of wealthy countries about looming water and food shortages.
Amanda Pike, Producer
Amanda Pike is the director of TV and documentaries at The Center for Investigative Reporting. Under her leadership, CIR garnered its first Academy Award nomination and four national Emmys, among other accolades. She was the executive producer of the inaugural year of the Glassbreaker Films initiative, supporting women-identifying filmmakers and journalists. She has spent the past two decades reporting and producing documentaries for PBS, CBS, ABC, National Geographic, A&E, Lifetime and The Learning Channel, among others. Subjects have ranged from militia members in Utah to young entrepreneurs in Egypt and genocide perpetrators in Cambodia. Pike also has dabbled in fiction filmmaking, producing the short film “On the Assassination of the President,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Blye Faust, Producer
Blye Faust is an Academy and Emmy Award-winning producer. Her credits include “Spotlight,” which won best motion picture and best original screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards and went on to gross nearly $100 million at the worldwide box office during its release. She most recently produced the hit Amazon docuseries “LuLaRich” and is currently in production with the “LuLaRich” team on another multipart series for Amazon. Other documentary credits include Emmy Award-winning and Peabody nominee “Belly of the Beast” and Emmy and Critic’s Choice Award nominee “Rewind.” In addition to her work as a producer, Faust is a ReFrame Rise sponsor and a member of the SFFILM Creative Advisory Board and the CreativeFuture Leadership Committee. She was previously a board member for The Center for Investigative Reporting and is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the State Bar of California.
Nicole Rocklin, Producer
Nicole Rocklin is the Oscar-winning producer of “Spotlight,” the riveting true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation of the Boston Archdiocese. At the 2016 Academy Awards, the film won best motion picture and best original screenplay. Her other producing credits include “Love, Lizzo” (directed by Doug Pray); “The Perfect Guy” (directed by David M. Rosenthal, starring Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut), which opened No. 1 at the box office its opening weekend; and “Middle of Nowhere” (directed by John Stockwell, starring Anton Yelchin, Eva Amurri, Justin Chatwin, Willa Holland and Susan Sarandon). She started her entertainment career as an assistant at Jerry Bruckheimer Films and graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in history and African American studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America and the CreativeFuture Leadership Committee.