WikiLeaks: War, Lies and Videotape

On Sunday, 13 February 2011 at 21:50, Discovery Channel (DStv 121) will be showing the premiere of WikiLeaks: War, Lies and Videotape. A first for the Discovery Channel, this documentary investigates the website that has given rise to one of the greatest controversies of the last decade ‚ one which is far from over.

On Sunday, 13 February 2011 at 21:50, don’t miss the premiere of WikiLeaks: War, Lies and Videotape on Discovery Channel (DStv, Channel 121). In an exclusive for Discovery Channel, this compelling film investigates the website that has given rise to one of the greatest controversies of the last decade ‚ one which is far from over.

WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret and classified media from anonymous news sources and news leaks. In late 2010, the website courted controversy by publishing hundreds of thousands of classified US diplomatic and military documents.

From the site’s inception through to the current conspiracy allegations, this revealing documentary follows the story chronologically of the charismatic founder of the website and new enemy number one of the Pentagon – Julian Assange. Assange is exclusively interviewed for the film about the motives behind the WikiLeaks organisation and the impact it has had around the globe.

Directed by award winning investigative reporters Paul Moreira and Luc Hermann, the film travels to London, Washington, Reykjavik and Paris to meet the WikiLeaks journalists and hackers who are fighting for transparency and are challenging the all-encompassing rules of military secrecy.

‚Making the film was extremely complex for Paul and I, at the most basic level in terms of getting close to Julian Assange and his team‚ comments Luc Hermann. ‚We had to travel to London twice without a camera to convince them to talk to us on film. They were under immense pressure, and having witnessed the impact of their activities in recent months, it is now clear why they were so cautious of us and the documentary we wanted to make.‚

The film also includes an interview with former number two and spokesperson of the WikiLeaks team Daniel Domscheit-Berg before he opens his own whistle-blowing website and publishes a novel about ‚his time at the world’s most dangerous website‚ . Daniel is now a ‚dissident‚ after quitting the company. His claim is that the organisation is too centred on the figure of Julian Assange and that there was a rush to unleash big news stories in lieu of steadily building up the organisation.

A window on the world of WikiLeaks and how its revelations have unravelled in the media spotlight, this documentary is not to be missed.

WikiLeaks: War, Lies and Videotape airs Sunday, 13 February 2011 at 21:50 on Discovery Channel (DStv, Channel 121).

WikiLeaks: War, Lies and Videotape is directed by Paul Moreira and Luc Hermann, Premières Lignes (2011). It is distributed by Zodiak Rights, Paris.