Assange, the movie: his father and brother expose the human behind public enemy No. 1 – The Sydney Morning Herald

Call me naive, but Im still shocked that we live in an age, and a culture, where you can lose your liberty, your sanity, your citizens rights and perhaps your life, for speaking truth. Sure, Julian Assange was determined to speak truth to power. Sure, the truth in question was ugly a revelation of US war crimes and the power in question the worlds greatest. And sure, such immense power bestows the ability, if not the right, to supervene the law. But none of that makes it OK.

Ithaka is a new film currently premiering at the Sydney Film Festival. Because Assange has been held incommunicado for almost two years, his father John Shipton and his brother Gabriel Shipton are compelled to speak for him. John talks, rather shyly, to camera while Gabriel produces. The film is their story; their Julian story, a very personal tale of a very public figure.

Julian Assange, pictured in 2017 at the Ecuadorian embassy.Credit:AP

Its name, Ithaka, is taken from John Shiptons favourite poem, a tale of journeying by early 20th century Greek poet C.P. Cavafy. But it also suggests the Homeric quality of Assanges epic quest for truth, and his fathers for justice.

The film, directed by Ben Lawrence, fills out the Assange of international intrigue, court action and assassination plots Assange as public enemy No. 1 by focusing on Assange the human. With his partner Stella Morris and their two small children we suffer through grim prison visits and emotional court hearings, small wins and devastating losses. But whats at stake is far bigger. For Julian, muses his father, its his life. But for you guys if he goes down, journalism goes down.

Hes not being grandiose. A couple of weeks ago, Britains High Court heard Americas appeal against Britains refusal to extradite Assange to face a secret trial and up to 175 years in supermax. Judgment is still weeks away and, even then, whichever side loses will likely appeal, so theres a way to go yet. But the threats to press freedom are real.

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First comes self-censorship. Chances are, this has already kicked in. Although the first extradition hearing, in January, found in Assanges favour, the judgment relied solely on his mental fragility. The judge, Vanessa Baraitser, offered no critique of the US penal system and no defence of press freedom. So no precedent arises.

Further, says Daniel Ellsberg, now 90: If Julian is extradited to the US to face these charges, he will be the first journalist and publisher [tried under the Espionage Act], but not the last. The New York Times might be the third or the fourth

Ellsberg, you recall, was the Rand Corporation economist who in 1971 leaked to the NYT and The Washington Post the so-called Pentagon Papers, revealing the Vietnam War not as a civil war but as a war of American aggression. His trial under the Espionage Act 1917 was eventually dismissed, due mainly to government incompetence. Since then, Ellsberg has received several peace prizes including the 2018 Olof Palme Prize for exceptional moral courage.

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Assange, the movie: his father and brother expose the human behind public enemy No. 1 - The Sydney Morning Herald