Moscow, December 2016 – Edward Snowden, Larry Lessig and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, are gathered for the first time in an undisclosed hotel room. As rumors of Russia interference in the US presidential elections come out; as Russia mourns its ambassador killed in Turkey; as Snowden carefully picks interviews and hardly appears in so-called « real life », as the world gets ready for Christmas, they come together to discuss the only issue that matters, their common fight: how to save democracy?
A poet, a single-mom punk turned coder, in 2010 Birgitta Jonsdottir co-produced the video “Collateral Murder », about US army helicopters gun-firing at Iraqi civilians. In the wake of the subprime crisis, she entered politics to help citizens get hold of their decisions, of their destiny, again. In 2013, she co-founded te Pirate Party, now with 10 seats in Parliament.
An Internet pioneer and a Harvard Law professor, Lessig has lectured and written on the influence of money in politics for years. He has launched citizens’ mobilizations to have representatives vote campaign finance reform, for him, the root cause to all of our problems. Last year, he tried to run for the presidential election. The Democratic Party excluded him.
In 2013, NSA sub-contractor Edward Snowden unveiled the US programs on mass surveillance on its populations and that of its allies. He has lived in exile in Russia since then. Edward Snowden is not the first CIA nor NSA whistleblower. And he is not alone raising his voice in defense of citizenship and of a free Internet.
Flore Vasseur writes books (narrative fiction), portraits and stories for some major french daily, documentaries for Canal+ and Arte, scripts for TV series. Whatever the format, she works on the end of the world as we know it, the one to come and those who might make it happen. She has covered the ideas and initiatives of Larry Lessig, Birgitta Jonsdottir and, to a lesser extent, Edward Snowden for a couple of years. But this is the first time she gathers them in a single piece of work (and a same unit of time and space).
Shot in Moscow in december 2016
Images: David Martin & Emmanuel Royer
Sound: Vladimir Ruzin
Assistant: Alissa Amblard
Editing: Aurélie Jourdan
Music: Rémi Boubal
Production manager: Aurore de Castelbaljac
Post production manager: Florian Lobstein
ARTE, June 10 & 15, 2017
MAX LINDER, Paris, France, 04/19 with Larry Lessig & Birgitta Jónsdóttir
TANK, Paris, France, 05/17/17
KINNERNET, Avalon, France 06/24/17
CINESTATION, Paris, France, Sept. 13 2017
EUROPEAN LAB, Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 14 2017
FESTIVAL DES ALTERNATIVES CITOYENNES, Paris, Oct. 1 2017
REYKJAVIK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Iceland, 10/07/17
PARISOMA, San Francisco, USA, 10/24/17
GOOGLE, Mountain View, USA,10/26/17
UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Stanford, USA, 10/28/17
BONLIEU SCENE NATIONALE, Annecy, France, 10/16/17
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FESTIVAL, Fall 2017 (TBC)
FIAF, New York, USA (TBC)
CHANNEL 8, TV, Israel (TBC)
RTE, TV, Irelande (TBC)
CINEFETE, TV, Canada (TBC)
CANAL PLUS, TV, Spain (TBC)
CANAL CURTA, TV, Brazil (TBC)
MEETING SNOWDEN is a great film to watch in group, to share.
If you want to organize a screening followed by a discussion, let us know !
49 MIN
16/9
ENGLISH
SUBTITLES
FRENCH / GERMAN
PRODUCTION
Julie Perris
Zadig Productions
Tél : +33 (1) 58 30 80 10
info@zadigproductions.com
www.zadigproductions.fr
FILMMAKER
Flore Vasseur
fvasseur@protonmail.ch
www.florevasseur.com
PRESS
Florence Alexandre
ANYWAYS
Tél. : +33 (1) 48 24 12 91
Mobile : +33 (6) 31 87 17 54
florence@anyways.fr