After a more than decade-long fight to avoid extradition to the United States, Julian Assange’s story is now being retold in a new Australian documentary that attempts to pull back the covers on his tortuous legal journey.
On Tuesday, June 25, Kyabram Plaza Theatre will screen The Trust Fall: Julian Assange, which tells the story of the Australian editor, journalist and activist Julian Assange.
The documentary explores Mr Assange’s stewardship of the controversial whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which opened in 2006 and has since released a trove of classified documents, and his current imprisonment in a London prison.
The documentary is the directorial debut for Australian filmmaker Kym Staton, who won Best Emerging Director at Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and Best First-Time Director at the Cine Paris Film Festival for his work on The Trust Fall: Julian Assange.
“This is a film about a man who risked everything to bring the truth to light,” Mr Staton said.
“In 2010, I witnessed the ‘Collateral Murder’ video on the nightly news, at the time I didn’t make sense of it ... I had no idea of the significance of this footage, and who Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are.”
Now, Mr Staton has more than an understanding of the significance of that footage, and has the support of crowd-funders who raised more than $500,000 for the production of the documentary.
“The project just grew and grew and as the project expanded we became more ambitious,” Mr Staton said.
“Suddenly it was a full documentary, and it was in cinemas on December 20 last year.”
The film has been shown in more than 350 cinemas across Australia and has been seen by at least 40,000 people.
Now, the documentary has arrived at Kyabram Plaza Theatre.
Mr Staton hopes cinema-goers walk out of the theatre with a “a good grasp” of the situation Mr Assange is facing.
“It’s important that people understand that this is an issue about free speech, press freedom and our ability to know what’s going on in our world,” Mr Staton said.
The documentary was filmed over two and a half years on three continents and in 10 cities and features a star-studded cast of narrators, including Susan Sarandon, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
The film also contains interviews with journalists, activists, government leaders and Mr Assange’s lawyers and family members.
To find out more or watch the trailer for The Trust Fall: Julian Assange, visit the film’s official site.
Tickets will be available at the Kyabram Plaza Theatre ticket box on Tuesday, June 25 when the film will be screened.