Documentary, Films, News

Chelsea Manning Documentary in the Works

Chelsea Manning: Manning’s Twitter account

A documentary about former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is in the works. According to a press release, “XY Chelsea” is the result of several years of “unique access” to Manning and her legal team. The Pulse Films doc will trace “the journey of her fight for survival and dignity, and her transition from prisoner to a free woman.” News of “XY Chelsea” coincided with Manning’s May 17 release from a maximum-security military prison.

“XY Chelsea” director Tim Travers Hawkins (“1000 Voices”) has been documenting Manning’s legal fight since 2014. He’s followed Manning’s legal team at work, Manning’s male-to-female transition, her battle to be held in a women’s prison, and her two suicide attempts. Travers Hawkins also filmed Manning on the day of her release.

After her arrest for leaking classified documents, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a maximum security prison in 2010. “It was by far the longest sentence given to any whistleblower in U.S. history,” the press release writes. President Obama pardoned Manning during his last days in office and she ended up serving seven years.

“Chelsea Manning’s story is one of the major events of our time, covering a wide range of themes from transgender rights to surveillance to the very nature of core democratic principles,” observed Julia Nottingham, Head of Documentary at Pulse Films. “We could not be more excited to be working with Tim Travers Hawkins and [executive producer] Laura Poitras on this project, which perfectly embodies the sort of smart, cinematic documentary Pulse is becoming known for.”

The doc was developed by Nottingham, Thomas Benski, and Lucas Ochoa, who also serve as producers. “Citizenfour” and “Risk” director Poitras is executive producing alongside Charlotte Cook, Mary Burke, Michael Bloom, and Adam Pincus.

No word on a release date yet, but given the timeliness of the subject matter, it’s likely that “XY Chelsea” will hit theaters later in 2017.


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