The documentary shows how far the richest and most powerful nations in the history of the world go to hide their crimes. It gets to the heart of how press freedom and investigative journalism are being dismantled before our eyes. Ithaka covers the struggle for Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks to provide a safe platform for whistleblowers.
Cinema Release: October 2022Invited by: Fritz Bauer Forum, Amnesty International Bochum, DFG-VK Bochum/Herne, Friedensplenum Bochum, VVN-BdA Bochum, endstation.kino im Bahnhof Langendreer, Aktionsbündnis Free Assange
Language: German subtitles, film discussion in English
The documentary shows how far the richest and most powerful nations in the history of the world go to hide their crimes. It gets to the heart of how press freedom and investigative journalism are being dismantled before our eyes.
Ithaka deals with the struggle for Julian Assange, a man whose idea of justice led him to found the organization WikiLeaks to provide whistleblowers with a safe platform to publicly expose crimes committed by governments. The information published by WikiLeaks has brought to light countless abuses, including war crimes, corruption and environmental scandals. For this revolutionary journalistic work, Julian Assange has been celebrated and showered with awards, but it is precisely this journalism for which the U.S. is demanding his extradition.
With Julian Assange facing a 175-year prison sentence if extradited to the US, his family members face the prospect of losing him forever to the abyss of the US justice system. This battle between David and Goliath is a personal one – and as Julian’s health steadily deteriorates in London’s maximum security prison, the clock is ticking.
Very powerful and sensitive, this film portrays a relentless father in his international fight for his son’s life and a wife struggling to save the father of her children. We simply must not look away, for this dangerous precedent affects us all.
Producer Adrian Devant is the brother of Stella Morris, wife of Julian Assange.
Production
– Written and directed by Ben Lawrence
– Producer Gabriel Shipton
– Cinematography Niels Ladefoged
– Editing Karen Johnson
– Producer Adrian Devant
– Original music Brian Eno
– Contributors
Contributors
– John Shipton
– Stella Moris
– Ai Weiwei
– John Pilger
Technical Information
Country of Production: Australia
Running time: 114 min
Format: DCP (25fps), color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85
Sound: (5.1 Surround)
