Citizenfour (2014)

Citizenfour (2014) / Country: United States, Hong Kong / Director: Laura Poitras / Duration: 114 min / Language: English / Subtitles: English, Albanian / Entrance: FREE

CITIZENFOUR is a Documentary film unfolding by the minute, giving audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Poitras had already been working on a film about surveillance for two years when Snowden contacted her, using the name “CITIZENFOUR,” in January 2013. He reached out to her because he knew she had long been a target of government surveillance, stopped at airports numerous times, and had refused to be intimidated. When Snowden revealed he was a high-level analyst driven to expose the massive surveillance of Americans by the NSA, Poitras persuaded him to let her film.

After four days of interviews, Snowden's identity was made public on June 9 at his request. On June 21, the US government requested that the Hong Kong government extradite Snowden. Snowden manages to leave Hong Kong, but his US passport is cancelled before he can tie up with Havana, blocking him at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for 40 days. The Russian government grants Snowden temporary asylum for a period of one year. In 2020 Snowden is still living in exile in Russia.

CITIZENFOUR places you in the room with Poitras, Greenwald, and Snowden as they attempt to manage the media storm raging outside, forced to make quick decisions that will impact their lives and all of those around them.

This film is screened in collaboration between Kino ARMATA and DokuFest.