Citizenfour

Citizenfour uncovers the secret and illegal practices of the US National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programme using classified documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The film aims to expose the indiscriminate invasion of privacy affecting American citizens as well as people around the world, in a case that shocked the global community.

The documentary follows award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald as they gain unprecedented access to Snowden and the classified evidence revealing the scope of government surveillance. The events depicted in Citizenfour unfold over an intense eight-day period in a Hong Kong hotel room in 2013.

Poitras had already been working on a documentary about government surveillance for two years when she began receiving encrypted emails from an anonymous source claiming to possess proof of the NSA’s illegal activities. Five months after the correspondence began, Poitras persuaded Snowden to allow their meeting in Hong Kong to be filmed, once he made clear his intention to reveal his identity as the source of the leaked information.

Citizenfour places the audience inside the hotel room with Snowden, offering insight into his motivations for exposing government wrongdoing. It also documents the high-stakes decisions made by Snowden, Poitras, and Greenwald during the eight-day period that would alter global discussions around privacy and security. The film ultimately serves as a warning about the far-reaching dangers of unchecked government surveillance.