In June of last year, a treasure trove of documents detailing the vast scope of government surveillance were unexpectedly released and immediately took the world by storm. Nearly simultaneously, through an iconic interview at an undisclosed location in Hong Kong, we met the young, soft-spoken contractor who had left behind a stable life in order to make those revelations come to light.
Now, a year and a half later, a new documentary tells the story of how that moment came to be – and for a limited time you can see it on the big screen right here in Maine!
The film is titled Citizenfour, a reflection of the constitutionally-inspired code name used by whistleblower Edward Snowden when he first contacted journalist Laura Poitras via a heavily encrypted email in January of 2013. The documentary is directed by Poitras herself and walks viewers through the tense and thrilling months that followed that initial communication.
Citizenfour has been showing in select theaters around the country, and this week it is playing at the Nickelodeon Cinema in Portland. Check it out while you can!
You’ll learn more about Snowden, Poitras and the other key players in this real-life drama, while discovering scary details about the true lengths with which the government has gone to conduct dragnet surveillance of innocent, ordinary Americans.
The trailer for Citizenfour can be viewed below, and if you’d like more information ahead of the showing check out this interview with Laura Poitras conducted by ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. She discusses the film, the surveillance state, and Edward Snowden in great detail, so check it out now and then reserve your tickets to see this amazing film while it’s here in Maine!
