The perils of documentary
Exactly which scene in the new documentary Risk makes Julian Assange look worst is a tough call. In a close-up portrait filmed over six years, there is no lack of candidates. You may wince hardest when, discussing the allegations made against him by two Swedish women, which included rape and sexual assault, the WikiLeaks founder notes how much easier it would be to discredit a lone accuser. She could, he ponders, simply be presented as a “bad woman” ...
Risk premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Back then, eyebrows were raised at how sympathetic it was to WikiLeaks and Assange personally. One review remarked that Poitras had become “less a journalist and more?.?.?.?a collaborator”. The version you will see now, however, has been significantly re-edited. There is coverage of the role of WikiLeaks in the release of hacked Democratic National Committee emails during last year’s US presidential election. Other changes have been made too. More time is now spent on Assange belittling the women who said he had attacked them. The big picture is one of ego and cultish paranoia. Poitras has seemingly turned from collaborator into hostile witness ...
Poitras says Assange has sent her cease-and-desist letters, pointing out the ironies for a champion of free speech ... Assange in turn alleges she reneged on an agreement not to edit raw footage on US soil — where, WikiLeaks claims, it could have been seized by authorities, endangering participants ...
... somehow, we get to the choice that now ends Risk, the leaking of emails from the Hillary Clinton camp during the US election that for many reduced Assange to Trumpian stooge. But, of course, in the rolling drama of Assange’s life, Risk could go on forever. There is always new material. A third edit could now deal with the fallout from the second edit ...
https://www.ft.com/content/85d43242-5692-11e7-80b6-9bfa4c1f83d2
