Citizenfour
Citizenfour | |
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Directed by | Laura Poitras |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Mathilde Bonnefoy |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Radius-TWC |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes[2] |
Countries |
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Languages |
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Budget | $1 million[3] |
Box office | $3 million[4] |
Citizenfour is a 2014
Synopsis
In January 2013, Laura Poitras, an American documentary film director/producer who had been working for several years on a film about monitoring programs in the United States that were the result of the September 11 attacks, receives an encrypted e-mail from a stranger who calls himself "Citizen Four."[5] (Per a 2014 Vice article featuring Poitras, Snowden chose this codename as a nod to three NSA whistleblowers who came before him: Bill Binney, J. Kirk Wiebe, and Thomas Drake.[6]) In Snowden's initial message to Poitras, he offers her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, accompanied by columnist Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian intelligence reporter Ewen MacAskill,[7] she travels to Hong Kong with her camera for the first meeting with "Citizenfour" in a hotel, who reveals himself as Edward Snowden. Scenes of their meeting take place in Snowden's hotel room, where he maintains his privacy. Shots of Snowden in his bed, in front of his mirror and of the hotel from a distance form the character of Snowden as a trapped political agent.[8]
After four days of interviews, on June 9, Snowden's identity is made public at his request. As media outlets begin to discover his location at the Mira Hotel, Snowden moves into Poitras's room in an attempt to elude phone calls made to his room. Facing potential extradition and prosecution in the United States, Snowden schedules a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and applies for refugee status. After Poitras believes she is being followed, she leaves Hong Kong for Berlin, Germany.
On June 21, the US government requests the Hong Kong government extradite Snowden. Snowden manages to depart from Hong Kong, but his US passport is cancelled before he can connect to Havana, stranding him in the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow for 40 days. On August 1, 2013, the Russian government grants Snowden temporary asylum for a period of one year.[9] Meanwhile, Greenwald returns to his home in Rio de Janeiro and speaks publicly about United States's utilization of NSA programs for foreign surveillance. Greenwald and Poitras maintain a correspondence wherein they both express reluctance to return to the United States.
Throughout, the film offers smaller vignettes that precede and follow Snowden's Hong Kong interviews, including
The film closes with Greenwald, Snowden and Poitras meeting once again, this time in Russia. Greenwald and Snowden discuss new emerging details on US intelligence programs, careful to only write down and not speak critical pieces of information. Greenwald tears these documents creating a pile of scraps, before slowly removing them from the table.
Cast
- Edward Snowden
- Glenn Greenwald
- Laura Poitras
- Ewen MacAskill
- Jacob Appelbaum
- William Binney
- Julian Assange
- Ladar Levison
- Jeremy Scahill
- Sarah Harrison
Background on Snowden
Born on June 21, 1983, in
It was at this point in his career that Snowden could sense that his views were changing; "I watched as
In his own words, the longer he continued to work for the NSA, the more he "worked in to resist" his own feelings regarding the various programs in place at the agency.[15] He had served at the Hawaiian base for approximately 15 months prior to leaving the United States and thousands of classified documents. In 2020, Snowden is still living in exile in Russia and conducted three interviews, one with John Oliver on Last Week Tonight in April 2015 - one with NPR's Fresh Air segment[16] and one with Wired[17] prior to the release of his autobiography Permanent Record on September 12, 2019.
Production
By 2012, Poitras had begun work on the third film in her 9/11 trilogy (My Country, My Country (2006) and The Oath (2010)), which she intended to focus broadly on the topic of domestic surveillance for which she interviewed Assange, Greenwald, Binney, and Appelbaum.[18] She was first contacted by Snowden in January 2013 after he was unable to establish encrypted communications with Greenwald.[19][20] She flew to Hong Kong in late May 2013, where, over the course of eight days, she filmed Snowden in his hotel room[18] at the Mira Hotel in Hong Kong. Later, she traveled to Moscow where she filmed a second interview with Snowden conducted by Greenwald.
Production company Praxis Films was involved in the production of the documentary. The film was distributed by
The soundtrack consists of portions of the
Security measures
National Security Agency surveillance |
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Poitras took many security precautions related to the film, described by military writer Peter Maass among others.[23] She moved to Berlin, Germany[24] after being detained repeatedly at border controls when entering the US.[23] She edited the film in Germany after flying directly there from Hong Kong with the Snowden footage, to prevent the FBI from showing up with a search warrant for her hard drives. All the film footage is kept on encrypted drives with multiple levels of nested protection.[25] The computer she uses for reading sensitive documents is separated from the internet by an air gap. Greenwald credited her with a "complete expert level of understanding of how to do a story like this with total technical and operational safety". Maass called Poitras's security skills "particularly vital — and far from the journalistic norm — in an era of pervasive government spying", and quotes Snowden stating that "[i]n the wake of this year's disclosure, it should be clear that unencrypted journalist-source communication is unforgivably reckless."[23]
Producer Bonnefoy has also discussed the encrypted workflow used in making the film, adding "if we have a conversation that's particularly confidential, we'll move the electronics out of the room, or we'll just meet somewhere outside of the editing room, without our phones."[26]
The
The film's ending credits unusually
Release
The international film premiere took place on October 10, 2014, in the United States at the New York Film Festival. In Europe, the documentary was shown for the first time on October 17 at the BFI London Film Festival. The first showing in Germany was on October 27 as part of the
It premiered on
Reception
Citizenfour received widespread critical acclaim. It has an approval rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 145 reviews, with an average score of 8.26/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Part real-life thriller, part sobering examination of 21st century civil liberties, Citizenfour transcends ideology to offer riveting, must-see cinema."[36] Metacritic gave the film a score of 88 out of 100 based on 38 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[37]
Ronnie Scheib of
Spencer Ackerman writes in The Guardian:
Citizenfour must have been a maddening documentary to film. Its subject is pervasive global surveillance, an enveloping digital act that spreads without visibility, so its scenes unfold in courtrooms, hearing chambers and hotels. Yet the virtuosity of Laura Poitras, its director and architect, makes its 114 minutes crackle with the nervous energy of revelation.[39]
Time magazine rated the film #3 out of its top 10 movies of 2014[40] and called the film "This Halloween's Scariest Chiller".[41] Vanity Fair rated it #4 out of its top 10[42] and Grantland rated it #3 of its top 10.[43] Writing for the Chicago Tribune, former Defense Department intelligence analyst Alex Lyda penned a negative review, calling Snowden "more narcissist than patriot".[44] David Edelstein reviewed the film mostly favorably, and jocularly advised viewers "don't buy your ticket online or with a credit card".[45]
The film site
Movie's impact
On Sept. 18, 2018, it was ruled by the
Lawsuit
In December 2014, retired naval officer and oil executive Horace Edwards of Kansas filed suit against the film's producers "on behalf of the American people" for aiding and abetting Snowden's leaks.[50][51] The Hollywood Reporter provided some legal analysis, noting observers opining that Edwards may not have legal standing to pursue the lawsuit.[52] Edwards also challenged the film's Oscar eligibility on the grounds that Poitras's 2013 short film showing Greenwald interviewing Snowden constituted a previous release of Citizenfour, rendering it ineligible under Oscar rules. The Academy rejected the claim, noting that "The Guardian interview appears in less than two minutes of the documentary", and ruled that Citizenfour was eligible for Oscar consideration.[53]
In February 2015, the filmmakers asked the
Awards and nominations
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
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DOK Leipzig 2014[57]
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October 29, 2014 | "Leipziger Ring" | Citizenfour | Won |
Gotham Independent Film Awards
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December 1, 2014 | Best Documentary | Citizenfour | Won |
IDA Documentary Awards[58] | December 5, 2014 | Best Feature | Citizenfour | Won |
Cinema Eye Honors[59] | January 7, 2015 | Outstanding Achievements in Nonfiction Filmmaking | Citizenfour | Won |
Outstanding Achievements in Direction | Laura Poitras | Won | ||
Outstanding Achievements in Editing | Mathilde Bonnefoy | Won | ||
Outstanding Achievements in Production | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky | Won | ||
Audience Choice | Citizenfour | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Nominated | |||
Critics' Choice Movie Award
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January 15, 2015 | Best Documentary Feature | Citizenfour | Won |
ACE Eddie Award | January 30, 2015 | Best Edited Documentary Feature | Mathilde Bonnefoy | Won |
Directors Guild of America Award[60]
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February 7, 2015 | Outstanding Directing – Documentaries | Laura Poitras | Won |
BAFTA Awards[61]
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February 8, 2015 | Best Documentary | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky | Won |
Satellite Awards | February 15, 2015 | Best Documentary Film | Citizenfour | Won |
Independent Spirit Awards
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February 21, 2015 | Best Documentary | Citizenfour | Won |
Academy Awards[62] | February 22, 2015 | Best Documentary Feature
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Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky | Won |
Deutscher Filmpreis[63]
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June 19, 2015 | Best Documentary Film | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky | Won |
Best Editing | Mathilde Bonnefoy | Nominated | ||
Best Sound Design | Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert and Alexander Buck | Nominated | ||
Primetime Creative Emmy Awards[64]
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September 12, 2015 | Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky | Won |
Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming | Laura Poitras | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming | Laura Poitras | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming | Mathilde Bonnefoy | Nominated |
At
Citizenfour won the 2015
Poitras also received several journalistic and humanitarian awards for reporting the Snowden disclosures depicted in the film, including the
See also
- List of films featuring surveillance
- Previous films in trilogy: My Country, My Country (2006) and The Oath (2010)
- No Place to Hide, book by Glenn Greenwald about the Snowden disclosures, including the events depicted in the film
- Snowden, a film directed by Oliver Stone and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt that depicts parts of the production of Citizenfour
References
- ^ "Citizenfour (2014) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
- ^ "CITIZENFOUR (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 17, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- The Wrap. July 13, 2015. Archived from the originalon March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
- ^ "Citizenfour (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
- ^ Greenberg, Andy (October 13, 2014), "These Are the Emails Snowden Sent to First Introduce His Epic NSA Leaks", Wired
- ^ "The Woman Who Captured Snowden". www.vice.com. October 20, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
- ^ Suzanna Andrews; Bryan Burrough; Sarah Ellison (May 2014), "The Snowden Saga: A Shadowland of Secrets and Light", Vanity Fair
- ^ Thomas Keenan, “Windows: of Vulnerability,” Ed. Bruce Robbins, The Phantom Public Sphere (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,1997), 121-141
- ^ Chumley, Cheryl; Sherfinski, David. "Edward Snowden granted asylum in Russia, leaves airport". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ "Edward Snowden". Biography. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ Executive Summary of Review of the Unauthorized Disclosures of Former National Security Agency Contractor Edward Snowden. Washington, D.C.: U.S. House of Representatives. 2016.
- ^ Harding, Luke (February 1, 2014). "How Edward Snowden went from loyal NSA contractor to whistleblower". the Guardian. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ "Edward Snowden: A Timeline - NBC News". NBC News. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ Snowden, Edward J. (2019). Permanent Record. New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 150, 277.
- ^ "Edward Snowden says motive behind leaks was to expose 'surveillance state'". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ "Edward Snowden Speaks Out: 'I Haven't And I Won't' Cooperate With Russia". NPR.org. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- ^ a b Packer, George (October 20, 2014). "Laura Poitras's closeup view of Edward Snowden". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ Lapin, Andrew (October 24, 2014). "'Citizenfour' Follows The Snowden Story Without (Much) Grandstanding". NPR. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ Greenwald, Glenn, "Excerpt: Glenn Greenwald's 'No Place to Hide'", ABC News, archived from the original on May 29, 2014
- ^ Lang, Brent (October 26, 2014). "Radius-TWC Chief on 'Citizenfour': 'It's Going to Get Heated'". Variety. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (September 17, 2014). "Edward Snowden Documentary 'Citizenfour' Added to London Festival Lineup". Variety. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ^ a b c Maass, Peter (August 13, 2013), "How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets", The New York Times
- ^ Cadwalladr, Carole (November 9, 2014), "Berlin's digital exiles: where tech activists go to escape the NSA", The Guardian
- ^ a b Greenberg, Andy (October 15, 2014), "Laura Poitras on the Crypto Tools That Made Her Snowden Film Possible", Wired
- Filmmaker magazine
- ^ Film Society of Lincoln Center
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (September 16, 2014), "New York Film Fest: Top-Secret Edward Snowden Doc Added to Lineup", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Higgins, Parker (October 29, 2014), The 7 Privacy Tools Essential to Making Snowden Documentary CITIZENFOUR, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- ^ "This is what a Tor Supporter looks like: Laura Poitras".
- ^ Citizenfour, Box Office Mojo
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 8, 2015), Edward Snowden Docu 'CitizenFour' To Debut On HBO Right After Oscars, deadline.com
- ^ Armstrong, Olivia (February 24, 2015), Oscar Winning Edward Snowden Documentary 'Citizenfour' Is Now On HBO Go, Decider
- ^ Mullin, Joe (February 23, 2015), PSA: Oscar-winning Citizenfour to air on HBO today
- ^ Citizenfour, Channel 4, archived from the original on February 28, 2015, retrieved February 28, 2015
- Fandango Media. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
- ^ Scheib, Ronnie (October 11, 2014), "Film Review: 'Citizenfour'", Variety
- ^ Ackerman, Spencer (October 11, 2014). "Citizenfour Review – Poitras' Victorious Film Shows Snowden Vindicated". The Guardian. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
- Time magazine
- ^ Corliss, Richard (October 26, 2014), "Review: Citizenfour Is This Halloween's Scariest Chiller", Time
- ^ Lawson, Richard (December 8, 2014), "The 10 Best Movies of 2014", Vanity Fair
- ^ Wesley Morris (December 18, 2014), The Top 10 Movies of 2014, Grantland
- ^ Lyda, Alex (December 23, 2014), "Edward Snowden is more narcissist than patriot", Chicago Tribune
- ^ David Edelstein (October 24, 2014), The Edward Snowden Documentary Citizenfour Puts You Right in the Room As History Is Made, vulture.com
- ^ Hudson, David (October 12, 2014), NYFF 2014 - Laura Poitras's Citizenfour, Fandor, archived from the original on February 7, 2015, retrieved January 26, 2015
- ^ Melendez, Steven (September 13, 2018). "Court: U.K. spy program revealed in Edward Snowden leaks violated human rights". Fast Company. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
- ^ "Q&A: European Court of Human Rights Rules UK Mass Surveillance Laws Violate Rights". Privacy International. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ "Top European Court Says British Spies Broke Human Rights Rules With Their Mass Surveillance Tactics". Fortune. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ Gardner, Eriq (December 22, 2014), "Citizenfour Producers Sued Over Edward Snowden Leaks", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Wingerter, Justin (December 31, 2014), "Topeka man, 89, files suit against Edward Snowden, documentary producers", The Topeka Capital-Journal
- ^ Gardner, Eriq (January 14, 2015), "Man Suing Over Citizenfour Looks to Drag U.S. Into Edward Snowden Leaks Lawsuit", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (December 23, 2014), "Academy Rejects Challenge to Citizenfour Oscar Eligibility", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Gardner, Eriq (February 11, 2015), "'Citizenfour' Filmmakers Demand End to Lawsuit Over Edward Snowden Disclosures", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Kansan Drops Suit Over Oscar-Winning Snowden Doc, Courthouse News Service, May 7, 2015
- ^ Notice of Dismissal (PDF), Court filing, April 3, 2015
- DOK Leipzig, November 1, 2014, archived from the originalon January 28, 2015
- ^ 30th Annual IDA Documentary Awards Winners, May 15, 2014
- ^ Lewis, Hilary (January 7, 2015), "'Citizenfour' Wins Four Awards at Cinema Eye Honors", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ McNary, Dave (February 7, 2015), "DGA Awards: 'Birdman' Wins Best Feature Film for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu", Variety
- BAFTA. n.d. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ "The 87th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
- ^ "Die Preisträger des deutschen Filmpreises 2015 (German)" (PDF). deutscher-filmpreis.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ^ "Citizenfour". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ^ Snowden honors the peaceful revolution in Leipzig, DOK Leipzig, October 28, 2014
- ^ "The 87th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ Feinberg, Scott (October 10, 2014), "New York Film Fest: 'Citizenfour' Hacks Way to Top of Uber-Competitive Doc Oscar Race", The Hollywood Reporter
- ^ Ben Beaumont-Thomas (January 15, 2015), "Oscars 2015: Edward Snowden film Citizenfour leads pack in Oscar documentary category", The Guardian
- ^ Oscars – Best Documentary Feature Betting Odds, Oddschecker.com, retrieved January 24, 2015 reports Citizenfour as a 3:13 favourite according to online bookmakers.
- ^ Lang, Brent (November 19, 2014), Why 'Citizenfour' Deserves a Best Picture Oscar Nomination
- ^ "Oscars: Can Edward Snowden Doc 'Citizenfour' Break the Best-Picture Curse?", The Hollywood Reporter, December 3, 2014
- ^ "2013 GEORGE POLK AWARD WINNERS". Long Island University. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ Ridenhour Prizes. "The Ridenhour Prizes – Fostering the spirit of courage and truth". Ridenhour.org. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ^ English Material: Invitation for the Ceremonial act Carl-von-Ossietzky-Medal 2014, Berlin: Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte (International league for human rights), December 10, 2014
- ^ "Henri Nannen Award for Efforts for Independence of the Press". Bertelsmann.com. Bertelsmann. May 8, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
- ^ "Guardian and Washington Post win Pulitzer prize for NSA revelations". The Guardian (Press release). April 14, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Citizenfour at IMDb
- Citizenfour at Box Office Mojo
- Citizenfour at Rotten Tomatoes
- Citizenfour at Metacritic
- Citizenfour at AllMovie
- Citizenfour is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive