When NASCAR legend, Tony Stewart, hit and killed an up-and-coming competitor on a rural dirt track, local police ruled it an accident. One billion data points, analyzed by the world’s leading forensic engineers, tell a damning and stunningly visual story of what happened that night. A team of award-winning investigative journalists unearthed never-before-seen evidence that indicates Stewart accelerated his car and fishtailed it toward a defenseless man.

This full-length film features testimony and facts previously unavailable to the public, including video depositions from Stewart, numerous eyewitnesses, and police investigators. Seasoned television journalists Chris Halsne, Investigative Broadcaster-in-Residence at American University (AU); Isaias Medina; and Brian Collister discovered evidence that raises questions about how detectives, prosecutors, and the local medical examiner investigated the now-dismissed criminal case against Stewart. The family of crash victim Kevin Ward Jr. agreed to be interviewed for this production. They share not only their heartbreak over this tragedy but their haunting experience with a small-town justice system. This documentary was produced by Mountain Dog Films in association with the Investigative Network in Austin, Texas.

The DC Independent Film Festival/Forum has chosen The Hit as an official selection in the feature documentary category. The 83-minute film has its world premiere during the festival at 7 p.m. on March 3, 2022, at the Landmark E Street Cinema in downtown D.C.  A panel discussion about investigative journalism, justice, and the development of this documentary, will precede the event, at 5:15 p.m. in the Zenger room at the National Press Club (NPC). The discussion is co-sponsored by the AU School of Communication Journalism Division and DCIFF. Entry into the forum can be included with the theater ticket or attended as a separate event. The NPC requires proof of vaccination to enter.

For theater tickets to The Hit, please visit https://tinyurl.com/2p8cvfrp or the DCIFF website.