A Laura Poitras’ film about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has won Hollywood’s highest accolade by snatching the Oscar for Best Documentary.
And the Oscar for Documentary Feature goes to… pic.twitter.com/KFw0Lwm7ik
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February
23, 2015
“The disclosures of Edward Snowden don’t only expose a threat
to our privacy but to our democracy itself,” Poitras said
during her acceptance speech. She was joined on stage by editor
Mathilde Bonnefoy, producer Dirk Wilutzky and Snowden’s
girlfriend, Lindsay Mills.
Laura Poitras: The disclosures Edward Snowden revealed affect
not only our privacy but our democracy #Oscars2015pic.twitter.com/RMRFEJT3fW
— ACLU National (@ACLU) February
23, 2015
The Oscar for CitizenFour comes after the documentary won the
prestigious Directors Guild Award as best movie in the category.
Citizenfour is a chronicle of making the world aware of the US
National Security Agency’s global electronic surveillance
program.
Edward #Snowden
congratulates Laura Poitras for @Citizenfour’s Oscar win
https://t.co/7XudnfngO6pic.twitter.com/KHxALb5SB7
— ACLU National (@ACLU) February
23, 2015
It begins with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald
and film director Laura Poitras traveling to Hong Kong in June
2013 to become the first public figures to meet Edward Snowden –
the government whistleblower and bring his findings to the world.
She met the former NSA contractor many times throughout the movie
that has a number of interviews with the former spy. Poitras
researched the data leaked by Snowden to unravel the shocking
truth about eavesdropping in modern society.
“When the most important decisions are made in secret, we lose
our ability to check the powers that control.” pic.twitter.com/MZWZK3JYwC
— CITIZENFOUR (@citizenfour) February
23, 2015
This wasn’t Poitas’ first nomination. In 2007, her film ‘My
Country, My Country’, about life for Iraqis under US occupation,
was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.