Rosanna Xia (A11), Exclusive Screening of OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT and FMS Student Conversation
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
April 6, 2026
The ten-year anniversary of Tufts Film and Media Studies continued with an exclusive screening of OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT, a film from the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia.
Co-sponsored by Tufts Film and Media Studies Program and Tufts Environmental Studies Program.
About the film
From the Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California.
Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.
About the filmmaker
Rosanna Xia is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and an environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she specializes in stories about the coast and ocean. Her journalism has inspired new laws and regulations, and her celebrated book, California Against the Sea, received the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, a gold medal from the California Book Awards, and a special citation from the Library of Congress, among other honors. She has been praised for her investigative reporting and narrative storytelling, and her coverage of a toxic dumpsite in the deep ocean has been anthologized in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. Xia’s latest project, the feature documentary Out of Plain Sight, which she directed and produced, is a cinematic expansion of one of her most haunting environmental exposés. The film has received numerous film festival honors, including the audience awards at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Berkshire International Film Festival, and the Jackson Wild Media Award for Best Investigative Film.
About the Event
The evening began with a screening of Out of Plain Sight, followed by an engaging conversation with Rosanna Xia moderated by Denise Cummings, Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Film & Media Studies; Sara Gomez, Professor of the Practice and Director of Environmental Studies; and Colin Orians, Professor of Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning and Chair of Biology. The discussion explored the journey from investigative print journalism to documentary filmmaking, while also examining the film’s urgent environmental themes and impact. Students then carried the conversation forward during a lively Q&A session with the filmmaker, asking thoughtful questions about both the creative process and the issues raised in the film.
📷 Geri Hart
Photo 1: Photo still from Out of Plain Sight
Photo 2: Photo still from from Out of Plain Sight
Photo 3: FMS Director Professor Malcolm Turvey, Denise Cummings, Academic Dean Tasha Oren, and Rosanna Xia
Photo 4: Moderators Denise Cummings, Colin Orians, Coco Gomez with Rosanna Xia
April 8, 2026
Two days later, Rosanna Xia returned to Film & Media Studies for an informal lunch and conversation with students moderated by Denise Cummings and Natalie Minik, Assistant Teaching Professor and Director of Production in Film & Media Studies. The discussion offered an inside look at adapting investigative print journalism into documentary storytelling, as well as the realities of navigating the film festival circuit. Students had the opportunity to ask candid questions about the creative process, industry challenges, and the journey of bringing a nonfiction story from the page to the screen.
During the conversation, Rosanna also reflected on her time at Tufts and shared her excitement about the growth of the Film & Media Studies program over the years. She spoke warmly about the creativity, curiosity, and collaborative spirit of today’s students, highlighting the impressive quality of work emerging from the program.
Rosanna Xia’s connection to Film & Media Studies extends far beyond her role as an alumna. She is also a co-founder of the FMS CJ Saraceno Scholarship, which supports an annual summer internship in Los Angeles at Bona Fide Productions. For the past 13 years, the opportunity has given FMS students hands-on industry experience and a valuable introduction to professional filmmaking in Los Angeles.
📷 Geri Hart
Photo 1: FMS students Ethan Sims, Alice Estrada and Daniel Cece, Natalie Minik, Denise Cummings, and Rosanna Xia.
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