Snowden reunites with doco maker

Former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has reunited with Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald.

Edward Snowden, Citizenfour director Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald have had a kind of reunion, their first time together publicly since clandestinely meeting in a Hong Kong hotel in 2013.

Snowden appeared on video link from Russia on Thursday, joining Poitras and Greenwald for a talk conducted by David Carr, shortly before the New York Times media columnist collapsed and died.

They spoke about the Oscar-nominated documentary, which chronicles Snowden's leak of National Security Agency documents.

Snowden said he initially refused Poitras' wish to film their encounter but she eventually convinced him.

He called the documentary "incredible," but regretted his presence in the film, comparing his analytical instruction to Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.

Snowden figures to be a conspicuous absence from the Academy Awards on February 22, at which Citizenfour is the favourite to win the documentary Oscar.

He said living in Moscow he's busier than he ever was as a National Security Agency employee, but life is more rewarding as he continues to speak out about governmental surveillance.

Snowden said he remains confused why the US revoked his passport midway in his initial flight from Hong Kong. He said his destination was Latin America, and claimed it would have been easier for the US to extradite him from there than from Russia, which has granted him asylum.

He said he has no regrets, even if some label him a traitor.

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Snowden reunites with doco maker