We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

The documentary begins with the founding of WikiLeaks and follows two people in parallel. One is Julian Assange: an Australian hacker, then the founder of a publishing organisation, and finally a man living in an embassy. The other is Chelsea Manning: a soldier posted in Iraq, alone in the army, who decides to leak the documents at hand. The narrative takes the leaked video, the diplomatic cables and the investigations that followed in turn. Alex Gibney directs. The documentary dates from 2013. Its most important source is a transcript of Manning's chats; the messages used in the legal proceedings are shown directly on screen. Assange did not give an interview and objected to the film after release; WikiLeaks published a counter text and found even the film's title misleading. The distinction the narrative builds is between the organisation and the person; the film defends the act of leaking while treating Assange's personal conduct as a separate matter. The documentary gives a separate section to the investigation in Sweden, and that section stayed at the centre of the criticism. Gibney's method draws on many sources; archive, interview and screen capture are used together. Its value now is as a chronological record; the order and dates of events are given in an orderly way. Who it is for: viewers who like political documentary and records of recent history. Who it is not for: the narrative may be found partisan, the running time is long, and there is little new for anyone who knows the subject.