Director Laura Poitras Learns Why She Was Being Detained at Airports

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Apr 24, 2017 For six years, the "Citizenfour" filmmaker was repeatedly stopped at airports without explanation. Recently, a lawsuit uncovered the startling reason. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

From Edward Snowden to Julian Assange: Filmmaker Laura Poitras Takes On Another Renegade in ‘Risk’

Kasia Anderson / Truthdig Apr 19, 2017 "Citizenfour" director Poitras returns with "Risk," a film about WikiLeaks founder Assange, and becomes a target by association. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Subtler Oliver Stone Is Back in Top Form With ‘Snowden’

Carrie Rickey / Truthdig Sep 16, 2016 Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s quietly gripping performance, complemented by Stone’s smartly subdued direction, makes for a top-notch treatment of the former National Security Agency contractor’s real-life suspense story. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

‘Zero Days’ Film Review: When Warfare Goes Viral, Guess Who Loses?

Kasia Anderson / Truthdig Jul 9, 2016 Compared to the era-defining new infoweapon Stuxnet, Big Brother is the stuff of child’s play. Compared to the era-defining new infoweapon Stuxnet, Big Brother is the stuff of child’s play. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Laura Poitras Hits Back at U.S. Government With Harassment Suit

Kasia Anderson / Truthdig Jul 15, 2015 "Citizenfour" director Laura Poitras has taken the U.S. government to task through her work as a filmmaker, and, unsurprisingly, she's gotten a direct message about how that's gone over with the powers that be in Washington. (Hint: not well.) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Techno-Art of the Moment, Featuring Laura Poitras, Ai Weiwei and the Mona Lisa

Carey Shenkman / Truthdig May 6, 2015 “Seven on Seven: Empathy and Disgust,” a New York event, couples artists with technologists or activists and gives them 24 hours to produce something. And those “somethings” turn out to be most interesting. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Tariq Ali: The Time Is Right for a Palace Revolution

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Mar 2, 2015 One of our most trenchant critics of corporate capitalism deplores the rise of an "extreme center" that has seized control of the political process and wages endless war while doing the bidding of global corporations Our only hope, he says, is revolt One of our most trenchant critics of corporate capitalism deplores the rise of an "extreme center" that has seized control of the political process and does the bidding of corporations . Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Hollywood Heroism: From ‘Citizenfour’ and ‘Selma’ to ‘American Sniper’

By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout Feb 23, 2015 Within the last few months, three films appeared that offer role models, however flawed, to young people while legitimating particular notions of civic courage, patriotism and a broader understanding of injustice. Dig deeper ( 15 Min. Read )

Calls for Social Justice Abound at the Oscars

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 23, 2015 From “Citizenfour” director Laura Poitras' acceptance speech for the Best Documentary Oscar to host Neil Patrick Harris’ quip that the Oscars are for Hollywood’s “best and whitest,” political commentary and calls for social justice rang through last night’s 87th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

In the New Gilded Age, Social Protest Dominates Academy Awards Ceremony

Juan Cole / Truthdig Feb 23, 2015 The committed artists honored at the 87th Academy Awards took advantage of their bully pulpits to make an amazing series of eloquent statements on behalf of minorities and the discriminated against. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Stranger Than Fiction: ‘Citizenfour’ Is a Dire Parable of Whistle-Blowers and Government Spying

Sonali Kolhatkar / Truthdig Oct 24, 2014 Laura Poitras' lens wordlessly captured the shock of the journalists, the youthful sincerity of the whistle-blower, and the unfolding tension that mounted as the stories started to get published and Edward Snowden revealed himself as the source to the entire world. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Race

Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Oct 20, 2014 Having seen her remarkable new film on Edward Snowden, "Citizenfour," in a packed house at the New York Film Festival, I sat down with Laura Poitras in a tiny conference room at the Loews Regency Hotel in New York City to discuss just how our world has changed and her part in it. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )