One thing I gathered after telling friends how knocked out I was by Laura Poitras‘s Citizenfour (Radius/TWC, 10.24) was that some of them (including, to my slight surprise, my older son Jett) have reserved if not skeptical attitudes about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Honestly? I was a bit on the fence myself about the former NSA contractor before catching the doc, but now I feel differently. I’m now persuaded that Snowden is a highly moral, exceptionally intelligent guy with cast-iron cojones. His life right now is anything but simple and is obviously fraught with uncertainty, but he seems rock-steady in his belief that he did the right thing. If nothing else the doc will probably convince you, the future viewer, of Snowden’s integrity also. Not to mention the fact that Citizenfour, as noted in my 10.11 review, is a great piece of spooky cinema — a real-life, real-time noir about how Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald broke the story. Here’s a chat I had with Poitras late Sunday afternoon.


Citizenfour director Laura Poitras

Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald during their initial discussions in Hong Kong.


Glenn Greenwald posing late last week with Jim Dessicino‘s 9-foot-tall Edward Snowden sculpture, which appeared in Manhattan’s Union Square as well as the intersection of 14th Street and Ninth Avenue.

Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald