Citizenfour (2014)

Citizenfour (2014), a documentary directed by Laura Poitras, delves into the NSA spying scandal involving Edward Snowden. It premiered in the US on October 10, 2014, at the New York Film Festival and in the UK on October 17, 2014, at the BFI London Film Festival. The film received widespread praise and numerous awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the 87th Academy Awards. After Poitras received encrypted emails from an informant with knowledge of government surveillance programs, she joined forces with journalist Glenn Greenwald and traveled to Hong Kong to meet with the sender – who was later revealed to be Snowden himself.

In January 2013, Laura Poitras, an American documentary filmmaker who had been working on a project about the monitoring programs resulting from the September 11 attacks, receives an encrypted email from a stranger going by the name ‘Citizenfour’. This individual offers her insider information about illegal wiretapping by US intelligence agencies. In June 2013, accompanied by columnist Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian reporter Ewen MacAskill, Poitras travels to Hong Kong with her camera for their first meeting at a hotel. There, ‘Citizenfour’ reveals himself as Edward Snowden. The scenes take place in Snowden’s hotel room where he values his privacy. Shots of him on his bed, in front of the mirror and of the hotel from afar depict Snowden as a confined political figure.