Citizenfour

Won the 2015 Oscar for Best Documentary. This real-life thriller gives audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the NSA. Poitras had already been working on a film about surveillance for two years when Snowden contacted her, using the name ‘Citizenfour’, in January 2013. He reached out to her because he knew she had long been a target of government surveillance, stopped at airports numerous times, and had refused to be intimidated. When Snowden revealed he was a high-level analyst driven to expose the massive surveillance of Americans by the NSA, Poitras persuaded him to let her film. The hugely acclaimed documentary places you in the room with Poitras, Greenwald, and Snowden as they attempt to manage the media storm raging outside, forced to make quick decisions that will impact their lives and all of those around them. ‘Citizenfour’ not only shows you the dangers of governmental surveillance - it makes you feel them. You will never again think the same way about your phone, email, credit card, web browser or profile.

✮✮✮✮✮ “A gripping record of how our rulers are addicted to gaining more and more power and control over us – if we let them” - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“This riveting film by one of cinemas bravest artists, Laura Poitras, is as gripping as any thriller you’ve ever seen” - Ira Sachs