Ardamata: Reconstructing a Massacre in the Age of AI, with Sara Creta

April 23, 2026
12:00–13:15PM EST

In an era where generative AI imagery has become ubiquitous, this conversation centers on the ethical integration of AI technologies into investigative and evidentiary processes.

Documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist, Sara Creta, explores how artificial intelligence and immersive technologies can transform visual evidence of mass violence into spaces of shared memory. This discussion centers on Sara’s short film, Inside Ardamata: Anatomy of a Massacre, which reconstructs the erased landscape of Ardamata, a West Darfur town where over one thousand civilians were killed in a single day.

Reporting from Sudan in 2025, Sara’s movements were heavily constrained by the armed groups in control, leading her to develop new investigative methodologies, utilizing open-source intelligence, survivor testimonies, and 3D modeling tools to reconstruct the atrocities of the Ardamata massacre. In this context, the very footage captured by perpetrators as an act of domination is reframed to support the evidentiary process, whilst preventing the retraumatization of victims.

Hosted by Fiona Stephen, the conversation will also raise questions of representation, consent, and accountability.

Participants

At The VII Foundation, Fiona collaborates with professionals from across the photography and media industries to produce online and in-person events and editorial content through Dispatches Magazine, centered on impactful visual storytelling.
Sara Creta is a documentary filmmaker, investigative journalist, and researcher working at the intersection of emerging technology and human rights. For more than a decade, her practice has focused on documenting war crimes, forced displacement, extractive economies and systems of impunity, combining long-term field reporting with digital and forensic investigation in some of the world’s most restricted conflict and border regions.