Risk (2016)

The story of WikiLeak's editor-in-chief Julian Assange as seen by documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras.

Director:

Laura Poitras

Writers:

Jonathan Oppenheim (story consultant), Laura Poitras (narration)

Stars:

Julian Assange, Sarah Harrison, Jacob Appelbaum

4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Julian Assange	...	Self
Sarah Harrison	...	Self
Jacob Appelbaum	...	Self
Joseph Farrell	...	Self
Renata Avila	...	Self - Lawyer
Jennifer Robinson	...	Self - Lawyer
Erinn Clark	...	Self - Tor Project developer
Laura Poitras	...	Self (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ana Alban	...	Self - Ecuadorian ambassador
Christine Assange	...	Self - Julian's mother
Louis Bladel	...	Self - FBI counterintelligence (as Special Agent Louis Bladel)
Hillary Clinton	...	Self (archive footage)
Amal Clooney	...	Self - Lawyer
James Comey	...	Self (archive footage)
Anderson Cooper	...	Self (archive sound)

Storyline

Filmed over six years, Risk (2016) is a character study that collides with a high stakes election year and its controversial aftermath. 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, director Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle.

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | written by director | title directed by female | voice over narration | contact lens | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Laura Poitras was romantically involved with activist, journalist, computer security researcher and artist Jacob Appelbaum, who at the same time was a subject of her documentary film project about WikiLeaks. She often mentions Appelbaum in her book "Astro Noise" using only the affectionate form 'Jake'. The opening photo in "Astro Noise" shows Poitras stretched out on a daybed in the sunlight and is credited to Appelbaum.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Features Collateral Murder (2010)

User Reviews

Ballad of a Vain Man

The ability of whistle-blowers to leak sensitive, and even secret, information is an essential check on the potential abuse of power by government. But Julain Assange, founder of Wikileaks, a website established to assist such whistle-blowers, is a deeply problematic figure: an egoist who falls out with his own collaborators with amazing frequency; a man who seemed hardly to take accusations of rape seriously; an instinctive anarchist who sometimes seems to be fighting not government tyranny everywhere, but exclusively in America. This documentary was conceived as a friendly venture (in fact, the film-maker quietly reveals she is not exactly a neutral party in the story), but the essential vanity of Assange is clearly on display. Ultimately, it's hard to avoid concluding that whatever good Wikileaks might have done has been fatally compromised by the man at its core.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English Arabic Spanish German

Release Date:

12 May 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Risk

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$76,327, 7 May 2017

Gross USA:

$200,219

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$214,669

Company Credits

Production Co:

Praxis Films Berlin, Praxis Films, Field of Vision (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1