Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 25 Jul

Alex Gibney / USA / 2013 / 130 mins

This is certainly not the first documentary following the story of WikiLeaks and undoubtedly won’t be the last. After publishing over 250,000 US cables and war logs in 2010, Julian Assange and his website have become infamous symbols of a so-called war on secrecy. From the 2009 riots in Iceland until March 2013, Alex Gibney’s film explores WikiLeaks, the infamous man who founded it and the fight for transparency it instigated. It looks closely at the motivations behind whistleblower Bradley Manning leaking the documents, and what his legal battle now means for Government censorship and security in the future.

Gibney’s retrospective documentary is by far the most comprehensive yet. With extensive archive footage of Assange and Manning; interviews from journalists Nick Davies, Heather Brooke and James Ball, hacker Adrian Lamo and former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden; the film boasts intellect and well-informed opinions and observations. Although the focus inevitably seems to fall on Assange for the duration, the documentary also gives Bradley Manning a fair trial. It also touches on the key issue of the WikiLeaks saga: the US Government (not) being held accountable for the truths that came out as a result of the cables being published. It’s proof that spin works: Assange and Manning are in the spotlight while cover ups and classifications continue. And all in the name of the people.

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