Reality Winner on Wednesday made her first public appearance since she was released from prison in June, taking part in a conversation at the Double Exposure Film Festival that centered around the ongoing campaign for President Joe Biden to pardon her. Winner pleaded guilty in 2018 to leaking a document about Russian interference in the 2016 election that she obtained through her work as a National Security Agency contractor.
The case is the subject of Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary “United States vs. Reality Winner,” which served as the opening night film of Double Exposure, a Washington, D.C. film festival dedicated to investigative reporting on film.
The film, which includes interviews with fellow Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, details the hardline approach federal authorities took in prosecuting Winner, whose leak was of far smaller scope than Snowden’s. The prosecution painted Winner as a traitor who hated her country, while Winner’s supporters...
The case is the subject of Sonia Kennebeck’s documentary “United States vs. Reality Winner,” which served as the opening night film of Double Exposure, a Washington, D.C. film festival dedicated to investigative reporting on film.
The film, which includes interviews with fellow Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, details the hardline approach federal authorities took in prosecuting Winner, whose leak was of far smaller scope than Snowden’s. The prosecution painted Winner as a traitor who hated her country, while Winner’s supporters...
- 10/14/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
With a deliberate pace, Sonia Kennebeck’s United States vs. Reality Winner quietly directs its outrage towards the injustice faced by 25-year-old whistle blower Reality Leigh Winner and a system that failed her. Held up as a poster girl for the deep state by Trump and the prosecution, she was ultimately betrayed by the sloppy work by journalists at The Incept who carelessly provided a document with identifiable information for confirmation.
Following the events that led up to Winner’s arrest––including recordings of conversations between Winner and agents who stopped by for a friendly chat, along with the efforts of her loving family to advocate on her behalf–– Kennebeck again has crafted an often riveting exploration of the state of national security. What emerges is a sympathetic personal portrait of Winner, who shares classified information on Russian interference (a document later declassified), as told through the perspective of mother Billie Winner-Davis and sister Brittany,...
Following the events that led up to Winner’s arrest––including recordings of conversations between Winner and agents who stopped by for a friendly chat, along with the efforts of her loving family to advocate on her behalf–– Kennebeck again has crafted an often riveting exploration of the state of national security. What emerges is a sympathetic personal portrait of Winner, who shares classified information on Russian interference (a document later declassified), as told through the perspective of mother Billie Winner-Davis and sister Brittany,...
- 3/27/2021
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
In 2017, 25-year-old Nsa contractor and Air Force veteran Reality Winner leaked a single document to The Intercept about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Since the outlet did not follow appropriate measures for protecting its source, the FBI easily tracked down Winner at her cramped home in Augusta, Georgia, later charging her under the Espionage Act. Winner accepted a plea deal with a five-year prison sentence, an outcome usually reserved for more severe offenses.
Unlike the explosive Edward Snowden saga of “Citizenfour,” Kennebeck doesn’t attempt to present its subject as a monumental truth-teller, nor does it bring new information to the table, or even fully assess the revelations of Winner’s leak. As a result, it lacks some of the intrigue that this type of investigative documentary storytelling usually bakes into the material. Like Kennebeck’s previous effort, “Enemies of the State,” the movie adopts the icy tone of a true-crime thriller,...
Unlike the explosive Edward Snowden saga of “Citizenfour,” Kennebeck doesn’t attempt to present its subject as a monumental truth-teller, nor does it bring new information to the table, or even fully assess the revelations of Winner’s leak. As a result, it lacks some of the intrigue that this type of investigative documentary storytelling usually bakes into the material. Like Kennebeck’s previous effort, “Enemies of the State,” the movie adopts the icy tone of a true-crime thriller,...
- 3/17/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
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