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IMDbPro

Risk

  • 20162016
  • TV-MATV-MA
  • 1h 26m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
54,000
4,788
Risk (2016)
Cornered in a tiny building for half a decade, Julian Assange is undeterred even as the legal jeopardy he faces threatens to undermine the organization he leads and fracture the movement he inspired. Capturing this story with unprecedented access, Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle.
Play trailer1:28
2 Videos
10 Photos
Documentary
The story of WikiLeak's editor-in-chief Julian Assange as seen by documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.The story of WikiLeak's editor-in-chief Julian Assange as seen by documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.The story of WikiLeak's editor-in-chief Julian Assange as seen by documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
54,000
4,788
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Laura Poitras
    • Writers
      • Jonathan Oppenheim(story consultant)
      • Laura Poitras(narration)
    • Stars
      • Julian Assange
      • Sarah Harrison
      • Jacob Appelbaum
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Laura Poitras
    • Writers
      • Jonathan Oppenheim(story consultant)
      • Laura Poitras(narration)
    • Stars
      • Julian Assange
      • Sarah Harrison
      • Jacob Appelbaum
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 16User reviews
    • 70Critic reviews
    • 72Metascore
    • Awards
      • 4 nominations

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:28
    Official Trailer
    Risk
    Trailer 1:28
    Risk

    Photos10

    Risk (2016)
    Julian Assange in Risk (2016)
    Julian Assange in Risk (2016)
    Julian Assange in Risk (2016)
    Risk (2016)
    Risk (2016)
    Risk (2016)
    Risk (2016)
    Risk (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Julian Assange
    Julian Assange
    • Self
    Sarah Harrison
    Sarah Harrison
    • Self
    Jacob Appelbaum
    Jacob Appelbaum
    • Self
    Joseph Farrell
    • Self
    Renata Avila
    Renata Avila
    • Self - Lawyer
    Jennifer Robinson
    Jennifer Robinson
    • Self - Lawyer
    Erinn Clark
    • Self - Tor Project developer
    Laura Poitras
    Laura Poitras
    • Self
    • (voice)
    Ana Alban
    • Self - Ecuadorian ambassador
    Christine Assange
    • Self - Julian's mother
    Louis Bladel
    Louis Bladel
    • Self - FBI counterintelligence
    • (as Special Agent Louis Bladel)
    Hillary Clinton
    Hillary Clinton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Amal Clooney
    Amal Clooney
    • Self - Lawyer
    James Comey
    James Comey
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Anderson Cooper
    Anderson Cooper
    • Self
    • (archive sound)
    Roger Dingledine
    Roger Dingledine
    • Self - Tor Project
    Daniel Ellsberg
    Daniel Ellsberg
    • Self
    Laura Ellsberg
    • Self
    • Director
      • Laura Poitras
    • Writers
      • Jonathan Oppenheim(story consultant)
      • Laura Poitras(narration)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The WikiLeaks lawyers Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Deborah Hrbek, Renata Avila and Melinda Taylor published an 'opinion piece' in Newsweek on May 17, 2017; WikiLeaks announced on the same day on Twitter that they may sue Laura Poitras: "We are lawyers for WikiLeaks. We are speaking out because we believe that Laura Poitras's film Risk (2016), released in U.S. theaters on May 5 this year, places our clients in legal jeopardy. (...) Our first issue with "Risk" is that the film was edited in New York, where the raw footage can more easily be seized by the U.S. government. By moving the editing location from Berlin to the U.S., Poitras has endangered our clients and reneged on written agreements with WikiLeaks that explicitly forbid her from editing the footage in the United States. (...) Poitras has also violated her unambiguous promise to the subjects of the film that they would have an opportunity to review the film in advance and request changes, and that they could decline to appear if they or their lawyers felt that the movie put them at risk. Had the filmmaker not agreed to these express conditions, WikiLeaks' staff would not have allowed themselves to be filmed in the first place. Despite repeated requests, neither the subjects of the film nor their attorneys were granted a prior viewing of the film that Poitras intended to release in the U.S.. When, along with the general public, we were finally able to view "Risk", we were dismayed to discover that the film released in theaters is a different version, not only from that which premiered at Cannes the year before, but also from the version screened for Julian Assange and his UK counsel at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The film viewed in the Embassy just one month prior to its U.S. release was shorn of all narration and omitted numerous new scenes, significantly changing its tenor. That the 'real' film contained these elements was concealed, preventing Assange from exercising his contractual rights. Prior to its initial U.S. release, seven of the participants submitted non-consent forms to the producers advising Poitras and her team that they did not want to appear in the film. Regardless, Poitras went ahead and released it. (...) To convince the audience of her point about the prevalence of sexism, Poitras has marginalized and demeaned a number of women who work for WikiLeaks, choosing instead to give men most of the airtime and leaving scenes depicting the significant contributions of the women WikiLeaks journalists on the cutting room floor. In their place, we now see an intense focus on women taking instructions and throwing off adoring looks. Sarah Harrison, for example, a brilliant journalist and winner of the Willy Brandt prize for "exceptional political courage," who at considerable personal risk helped Edward Snowden obtain political asylum, and who was accurately portrayed as having a central role in WikiLeaks work in the Cannes version, is now depicted as little more than a minion. Exactly what caused this pivot is not entirely clear. (...) The reason for the shift seems to be contained in the newly added voiceover, in which Poitras divulges that she was involved in an intimate relationship with one of the film's primary subjects, award-winning journalist Jacob Appelbaum. Appelbaum appears prominently in Poitras' Citizenfour (2014) as well as in "Risk". Although he does not work for WikiLeaks, Poitras conflates WikiLeaks with the organization he did work for, Tor, and makes him a central focus of the current version of "Risk". The Cannes premiere of "Risk" portrayed Appelbaum in a flattering light and Poitras did not disclose the nature of their relationship at that time. (...) Poitras was criticized after Cannes for appearing to be overly sympathetic to WikiLeaks. Instead of providing us with a more objective portrayal of her subject matter, she has re-framed her story to turn "Risk" into a film by Laura Poitras about Laura Poitras; a rather late coming-of-age story about the filmmaker discovering that there is sexism in her social and professional circles. Instead of a documentary about the abuse of state power and WikiLeaks' important role in exposing it, the emphasis of the film is now to highlight hotly disputed claims about an ex-boyfriend. We have to ask: Why choose this moment in history, when First Amendment and other fundamental rights are under attack, to undermine the credibility of an organization dedicated to government transparency and freedom of the press? (...) "Risk" might win attention for Poitras by pandering to tabloid narratives about its subjects, but it has done a great disservice to her fellow documentarians, and has profoundly betrayed her friends, her colleagues and her journalistic integrity."
    • Quotes

      Julian Assange: We don't have a problem, you have a problem.

    • Connections
      Features Collateral Murder (2010)

    User reviews16

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Scattershot Indecipherable Mess...Feels Like the Thing Got Out of Hand
    Documentary Filmmaker Laura Poitras ("Citizenfour" (2014) follows up that Oscar Winner with this "Julian Assange", "Wikileaks" Exploration and it is a Mess. Suffering from a Number of Outside Influences the Film became even More Messy after its Initial Release. It was pulled and Re-Edited and Re-Released.

    The Movie is Confusing, Scattered, Lacks Focus and can cause Headaches trying to Follow the Themes or the Intent. It Plays like a Crazy Women's Quilt. Even more so if You are Unfamiliar with the Players or the Subjects Presented in a Haze of Haphazard History. Keeping Things Straight as the Film Unfolds is a Daunting Task.

    It Hops and Flops all over the place. Locations and Points of Interest Covered are so Random it Feels like a Treasure Hunt and the "X" is Never Found. It moves here and there and Never Settles. Nothing is very Clear. Ambiguity Reigns, and those Seeking Insight or Truth about any of this will be Disappointed.

    The Soap Opera Elements Overtake the Political and the Historical and it almost Devolves into a "People Magazine" Kind of Thing. Surely the Intentions were anything but. But in the End that's what it Feels Like. The Movie got Spoiled somewhere, sometime along the way and the Restoration to Something Palatable was Unsuccessful.
    helpful•15
    9
    • LeonLouisRicci
    • Aug 16, 2017

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 12, 2017 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Arabic
      • Spanish
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Риск
    • Filming locations
      • London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Praxis Films Berlin
      • Praxis Films
      • Field of Vision (II)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $200,219
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $76,327
      • May 7, 2017
    • Gross worldwide
      • $214,669
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 26 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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