CITIZENFOUR (2014)

A film by Laura Poitras

Directed by Oscar nominee Laura Poitras (“My Country, My Country”), Citizenfour is a real-life international thriller that unfolds by the minute. With unprecedented access, this gripping behind-the-scenes chronicle follows Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s remarkable encounters with Edward Snowden in a Hong Kong hotel room as he hands over classified documents that provide evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Poitras had been working on a film about surveillance for two years when Snowden contacted her, using the name “Citizenfour”, in Jan. 2013. He reached out to Poitras because he knew she was a longtime target of government surveillance who had refused to be intimidated. When Snowden told Poitras he would not conceal his identity as the source of information on the massive surveillance of Americans by the NSA, Poitras persuaded him to meet in person and let her film their encounter.

Citizenfour places viewers in the hotel room with Poitras, Greenwald and Snowden as they attempt to manage the media storm raging outside, forced to make quick decisions that will affect their lives and all around them. The documentary not only shows the dangers of governmental surveillance, but makes audiences feel them. After seeing the film, viewers will never think the same way about their phone, e-mail, credit cards, web browser or digital footprint again.

Citizenfour won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Oscars

Since its world premiere at the prestigious New York Film Festival, the film has earned multiple awards, including honors from the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics, Boston Society of Film Critics, San Francisco Film Critics Circle, San Diego Film Critics Society, Kansas City Critics Circle, Dallas-Ft. Worth Critics Association, Detroit Film Critics Society, St. Louis Film Critics Association, Austin Film Critics Association, Iowa Film Critics Awards, Houston Film Critics Awards, National Society of Film Critics, Utah Film Critics Society, Women Film Critics Circle Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Society, Cinema Eye, the Gothams and the IDAs.