laurapoitras

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  • Peter Nicholls / Reuters

    Watch 'Citizenfour' team's WikiLeaks doc this summer on Showtime

    by 
    Timothy J. Seppala
    Timothy J. Seppala
    04.10.2017

    There haven't been any shortage of documentaries about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but the one we've kept a keen eye on is from filmmaker Laura Poitras. You might remember her as the director of the the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour and as one of the 150 filmmakers calling for camera encryption. As it happens, Risk will see a theatrical release, but this summer the film will be available on the small screen thanks to Showtime, Variety reports.

  • NSA-Snowden documentary 'Citizenfour' wins an Oscar

    by 
    Mat Smith
    Mat Smith
    02.22.2015

    A documentary that outlined how Edward Snowden revealed the NSA's data surveillance program to the world has just won an Oscar. Citizenfour director Laura Poitras has a track record of serious documentaries, including My Country, My Country and The Oath, but the PRISM documentary marks her first Oscar win. Following the award, host Neil Patrick-Harris made a quick lil' treason joke at Snowden's expense, possibly missing the gravitas of a story that dominated the news agenda for over a year. In response to the award, Snowden said: "My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world." We've added the full statement after the fold. (Can you guess who 'Citizenfour' actually was in the end? Hint: It's not Patrick-Harris)

  • Edward Snowden documentary reveals more about the new leak source (update: New Yorker interview)

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    10.11.2014

    The US government insisted that there was a second source leaking intelligence data besides Edward Snowden, and we now have some extra evidence to support this claim. Laura Poitras' just-launched documentary covering the Snowden leaks, Citizenfour, reveals that this mysterious tipster is both higher in the intelligence ranks and, at least at the time the movie was shot, still serving. In other words, the leaker theoretically has access to up-to-the-minute info about the US' surveillance activities. When Snowden sees this information (provided by reporter Glenn Greenwald) in the documentary, he's visibly startled -- even he wasn't aware of another insider.