The Julian Assange documentary “Risk” is receiving a theatrical release. According to a press statement, Showtime Documentary Films and NEON will bring Laura Poitras’ doc to theaters May 5. It will also air on Showtime.
The footage in “Risk” is a culmination of six years of filming and “takes viewers closer than they have ever been before to Julian Assange and those who surround him,” the doc’s official synopsis reads. “With unprecedented access, Poitras gives us the WikiLeaks story from the inside, allowing viewers to understand our current era of massive leaks, headline-grabbing news, and the revolutionary impact of the internet on global politics. ‘Risk’ is a portrait of power, principles, betrayal, and sacrifice when the stakes could not be any higher. It is a first-person geopolitical thriller told from the perspective of a filmmaker immersed in the worlds of state surveillance and the cypherpunk movement.”
Poitras, whose Edward Snowden doc “Citizenfour” won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2015, said, “Both [Showtime and NEON] are thinking outside the box about how to bring complex stories to a wide audience. I am thrilled to team up with them on ‘Risk.’”
The film briefly touches on the allegations of sexual assault and rape leveled against Assange. In August 2010 he was accused of rape and molestation, and Sweden issued a warrant for his arrest. In 2012 Assange, facing extradition to Sweden, fled to London’s Ecuadorean embassy, where he has been holed up ever since. In the interim years, Ecuador granted him asylum and Sweden stopped investigating Assange for sexual molestation and unlawful coercion — but they have not stopped investigating the rape. Earlier this year, the UN ruled that Assange had been “arbitrarily detained” since 2010.
Assange has maintained his innocence all this time. According to The New York Times, he claims he participated in “consensual and enjoyable sex” with his accuser. Let’s just say that when Women and Hollywood saw the film at Cannes last year, Assange did himself no service in making us believe that he is an innocent, wrongly accused man. He comes off as a misogynist ass who disrespects women, even those trying to help him.
Earlier versions of “Risk” have previously screened in the Directors’ Fortnight category at Cannes 2016 and at the New York Film Festival in 2015. Check out the trailer below.
