Citizenfour - Documentary

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A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.

Directed by Laura Poitras
Executive Produced by Steven Soderbergh
Release Date - October 24, 2014 (NYFF)

[wilder]

[wilder]

This wasn't bad...at all...but felt like a very flat document, an objective, chronological news report. The subject matter is important, and as history distances us from these events I'm sure this film will serve as a good up-close-and-personal reminder of what went down from as first hand a perspective as anyone could get, but in terms of its documentary filmmaking Citizenfour didn't feel very compellingly constructed to me. Maybe the gravity of the subject matter speaks for itself, and the clarity with which it's captured, the avoiding of unnecessary sensationalism or music used in effort to sway the audience is skill enough, but the movie left me a little cold.

I'm glad people are paying attention, but maybe the obviousness of injustice is making this easy to embrace. Where was everyone when the (imo) superior We Steal Secrets came out?

[wilder]

From this Reddit AMA with Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and Edward Snowden:

Yes, I do plan to release more footage from Hong Kong shoot. On the first day we met Ed, Glenn conducted a long interview (4-5 hours) that is extraordinary. I also conducted a separate interview with Ed re: technical questions. The time constraints of a feature film made it impossible to include everything. I will release more.

I also filmed incredible footage with Julian Assange/WikiLeaks that we realized in the edit room was a separate film.