AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Dreaded Eddie OK I got here after Fifth Estate - a Hollywooded fairy tale story about WikiLeaks - well depending where you sit on the fence I suppose. So I thought I'd give Mediastan a shot, WikiLeaks own documentary. A journey with Julian's "Remote control" team trying to wheel and deal by "giving away" the diplomatic cables. Giving away the unredacted diplomatic cables after signing a Memorandum of Understanding which is non-binding and represents nothing more than a gentleman's agreement between the two parties - not my words - the remote teams words - that seems bloody irresponsible because once the cables are given to these outlets where else would they go unredacted? You have lost all control – was that the point to this whole exercise? This demonstrates by itself to me how wreckless Assange truly is. Oh the MoU appeared to be in English and these Newspaper editors didn't seems to have a good understanding of English - ie probably didn't understand what they were asked to sign - simply irresponsible by all parties involved. Filming quality was not bad in general, for an amateur. Much better than I expected. As was sound quality. But the documentary itself was lacking with little or no substance. So there we open with Julian in Northfolk reviewing one presumes a US cable with a college and they fall over themselves laughing at "...is already in correspondence with Karl Rove".. Excuse me, Hello?, Over here? Let me into the joke please, I had to go and Google Karl Rove – it didn't help. Some context would be awfully nice chaps. Then we move to the 5 "tourists" otherwise known as Jullian's remote control. The opening gambit about printing or re-printing positive American material in the local press. They were stating that the press would be paid to re-print this material - but he read it out loud at verbatim - yes there was an incentive - but nowhere did it say they would be obliged to re-print anything. It was very interesting how the "boss" of these newspapers were not in central asia but somewhere else like Czech republic or the US itself. What I have to say at the end of all this is Julian Assange is just someone who "lucked out" With Manning but left the poor guy high and dry for what is it? 35 years?? And for what? To put Wikileaks out there and hope to catch some other poor unsuspecting poor soul.Finally if you are going to cross a boarder, and get intercepted by gits carrying rifles then telling those people "my beard is my passport" deserves to get you some time. Admittedly 5 years at Guantanamo Bay is harsh, I mean it was an impressive beard after all.

WebBeachBoy I take a substantial interest in film and visit this site, in particular, every day. So it was a little surprising to me that whilst I had been submerged in the media tsunami of publicity for "The Fifth Estate" I had never heard of this documentary film released on 13th October 2013 (and available free to view for individuals for the coming weekend). It seems that, even if you give away your film for free, then it will be "dissapeared" unless some paid publicity agency pours endless copy onto the media to promote it. Where is objectivity ? The film reports on a tour by WikiLeaks personnel through the "stans" of central Asia interviewing publishers and editors who may be interested in publishing WikiLeaks material pertaining to their own countries. This film is quite remarkable in it's simplicity, not labouring the point, and letting the viewer make their own conclusions about bias in publishing organisations in countries. It also has it's unexpectedly funny moments such as one radio station (Radio "Liberty") chief saying "we are absolutely free (to say anything)" then the following day saying that he cannot do anything because his boss in Washington reminded him that his Afghanistaan radio station was funded by the American Congress. No roads but - tentacles are everywhere :) You may want to see "The Fifth Estate" - a little bit of fluff - but if you are interested in Wikileaks then watch this unbiased documentary film. At then end of it I realised how much the media had obeyed their puppet-masters and witch hunted Julian Assange.

Chris Smith The first thing that struck me about this documentary was how beautifully it was filmed. The stunning snow-capped mountain scenery of Central Asia in the opening shots got me hooked immediately. This is a road film that travels through some of the most remote and rugged territory in the world that is rarely seen by people in the West. It is where the old Silk Road used to run between Europe and China that is now a geopolitical battleground between East and West.An intrepid team of Wikileaks supporters tours the capital cities of the "Stans", the Muslim states of former Soviet Central Asia, looking for local media organisations to partner with and to publish Cablegate files relevant to their countries. The interviews with local editors and journalists provide some sobering insights into the pressures on them from both local state authorities and their corporate owners. The negotiations with editors also shed light on the Wikileaks' approach to disclosures and the need to protect vulnerable people via redactions.The team--including Swedish director Johannes Wahlstrom--enters a Swedish military base in northern Afghanistan and films a memorable encounter with the person in charge of development aid about the reality of her role in this military intervention.The film ends up back in the West interviewing editors in the UK and US about the pressures they also face--hammering home the fact that it is not just publishers in dictatorships that face problems.Highly recommended.

qpllpq An intriguing journey into the interface between journalism and the state; Wikileaks associates travel through Central Asia and the West talking to news managers about news and secrets.Perhaps surprisingly, viewers with their minds already made up on either side of the Wikileaks/Manning/Assange debates will find plenty to reinforce their views. The open minded, after a sometimes slightly comical tour of heavily managed news outlets in various -stans in Central Asia, are quietly invited, without preaching or polemic, to consider just how different are the famously 'free' presses of the West.Along the way: some neat travelography, lots to think about, and I suppose a little bit of history captured being made.