A new documentary has captured Edward Snowden's leak of National Security Agency documents as it unfolded in a Hong Kong hotel room. <\/p>\n
Laura Poitras' highly anticipated documentary Citizenfour, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, presents a remarkably intimate portrait of Mr Snowden, including his first meetings with the journalists with whom he shared thousands of documents revealing the collection of Americans' phone and email records. <\/p>\n
Initially communicating under the alias \"citizenfour\", Mr Snowden reached out to Ms Poitras, a hybrid journalist-documentarian, and Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald. The film shows their first meeting with Mr Snowden and the days that followed as his revelations made international news. <\/p>\n
From the beginning, Mr Snowden is seen as highly aware that such a leak would mean sacrificing his own freedom. <\/p>\n
\"I already know how this will end for me,\" he says. \"And I accept the risk.\" <\/p>\n
Mr Snowden was charged with three felony offences under the Espionage Act: unauthorised communication of national defence information; theft of government property; and wllful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorised person. <\/p>\n
He is currently living in asylum in Russia, where he fled from Hong Kong with the aid of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. <\/p>\n
Ms Poitras said she showed the film to Mr Snowden two or three weeks ago, during which she shot footage (used in the film) of him and his long-time girlfriend Lindsay Mills cooking dinner at their Moscow home. <\/p>\n
Members of Mr Snowden's family attended the screening, which was received with an emotional standing ovation. His father, Lonnie Snowden, told the crowd: \"The truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped.\" <\/p>\n
Citizenfour, which the Weinstein Co's boutique label Radius will release on October 24, had been shrouded in mystery. <\/p>\n
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