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Courtesy of Citizenfour
Citizenfour
Oliver Stone’s Snowden, will be released this Fall. For yours truly it is a must-see—as is Laura Poitras’s documentary coverage of the Snowden affair, Citizenfour, which I reviewed at its release in 2015, and now share again in the Summer of 2016.
Citizenfour tells the harrowing story of Edward Snowden’s release of highly classified U.S. government documents to a journalist. The release was extensively covered by media in the United States and globally.
Poitras’s widely acclaimed film had an unusual release. It was both an HBO documentary and—anticipating the inevitable Oscar® interest—a theatrical release. It had already garnered significant exposure on the festival circuit.
Given the above, it would be unusual for readers of this review to be unfamiliar with the film—let alone its subject.
Citizenfour is a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking. Despite knowing the story, like Apollo 13 the viewer is kept on the edge of their seat. Those viewing the film on various devices may find themselves pausing to read explanatory text on the screen, as well as repeating various segments of the film.
As I watched the story unfold, I was feeling and thinking about the bravery of all who participated in these actions taken on behalf of people around the world who live in democracies which have become ‘democracy’ in name only. I also fumed and grieved at the massive amount of U.S. tax dollars wasted in the monitoring of the interested parties, as well as the behind-the-scenes machinations at all levels of our federal government. Of course, there are also the billions of people who live in nations without the pretense of democracy.
Citizenfour won the 2015 Academy Award in the Feature Documentary category.