“Enemies of the State” has found a home. IFC Films snagged North American rights to Sonia Kennebeck’s doc about alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart, a press release announced.
Described as blurring “the line between reality and paranoia in its exploration of the stranger-than-fiction case” of DeHart, who “believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy,” “Enemies of the State” is “alternately a compelling legal case study, an espionage thriller, and a thought-provoking work of investigative journalism – a tangled web of secrets and lies with an American family willing to go to any lengths to protect their son at its center.”
“The secrets drew me to this story,” Kennebeck told us. “When I first met with the family at the center of the film, the DeHarts, they told me that FBI agents interrogated their son Matt in a jail in Maine where he also received an old major tranquilizer, Thorazine. Medical records proved the drugging and there was also a declassified summary of one FBI interrogation, but it became clear that at least two more summaries were still secret. The government secrecy and alleged FBI mistreatment of Matt DeHart, and the documentation of his case, disturbed and intrigued me. At that time, my production partner Ines Hofmann Kanna and I had already been doing research for a film on U.S. government torture and were well aware of the systemic maltreatment of detained people by law enforcement and the military. This story seemed to fit right in,” she observed. “But as we found out, there was much more to this case than we initially imagined.”
“Enemies of the State” made its world premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
When we asked Kennebeck what she’d like audiences to think about after watching the film, she said, “‘Enemies of the State’ tells an incredible story and is also a tale of extreme parental love and loyalty. And yet, for me, the film is about more than one single case. It is about seeking the truth in a complex world full of misinformation and secrecy, where stories spread fast and wide, making it increasingly difficult to find reliable sources and confirmed information.”
The director explained that she’s “fascinated by the ambiguity of our world and human behavior” — the “gray areas and contradictions in life, the bad choices, complacencies, and darkness. I read recently in an interview about the QAnon conspiracy theory that people’s discomfort with ambiguity could be a reason for their belief in bizarre ideas. They want definitive answers.”
Arianna Bocco, President of IFC Films, said, “Sonia maintains a deft balance in telling the fascinating story of the DeHart family, with all the twists and turns of a true crime mystery. We’re thrilled to come on board for the release of this astounding and multi-layered documentary.”
IFC Films will release “Enemies of the State” this summer.
Kennebeck’s follow-up to “Enemies of the State,” “United States vs. Reality Winner,” will make its world premiere at SXSW this month. The doc centers on 25-year-old NSA contractor Reality Winner, a whistleblower who exposed Russian election interference.
“National Bird” and “Sex: Made in Germany ” are among Kennebeck’s other credits. She co-directed the latter with Tina Soliman.
