Citizen Four

It's been a couple of years now since the dramatic revelations of widespread government surveillance by the NSA. While much of the fall-out of this information has made its way into our world-view - particularly for us techies - the issue of government surveillance seems to get less attention than Donald Trump's hairstyle. It's back at the front of my mind, however, as I just got my copy of the DVD of Citizen Four - Laura Potras's Oscar-winning documentary of the Snowden leaks and their initial impact on the world.

It's a hard film for me to review, as I'm very familiar with the subject matter. I certainly found it engrossing, and interesting to watch the visual story that Poitras told. Snowden comes over as a true patriot, one who believes his duty to the American People is greater than his duty to any government agency. The documentary concentrates mostly on his actions and their consequences on our consciousness. It doesn't go into much detail about how the NSA surveillance works, nor the degree of its fundamental danger to a democratic society - but I hope it does at least give an impression of how deep and dangerous it is. The film only briefly mentions why it is impossible for Snowden to get a fair trial in the US - forcing him into self-exile. I can only hope that that mention is enough to explain the problem to the audience. I appreciated that while the film doesn't underestimate the huge battle we face in getting the security apparatus back under proper supervision, it does finish with signs of hope - both for the impact of Snowden's bravery and the ongoing efforts of those working to save our progress.

All in all the film is an engrossing journey into a topic that is fundamental to our progress to an open society - both in the US and elsewhere. I urge you and your friends to watch it.

(The DVD comes with a bunch of extras that I haven't yet watched.)

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