We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is a 2013 American independent documentary film about the organization started by Julian Assange, which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.
Filmed with the startling immediacy of unfolding history, Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks details the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial website. Hailed by some as a free-speech hero and others as a traitor and terrorist, the enigmatic Assange’s rise and fall are paralleled with that of PFC Bradley Manning, the brilliant, troubled young soldier who downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from classified U.S. military and diplomatic servers, revealing the behind-the-scenes workings of the government’s international diplomacy and military strategy.
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks Reviews
“The film creates an astonishing picture of the complex new world of internet communications, intelligence and the ever-expanding web of post-cold war secrecy.” Observer UK
“Make no mistake, "We Steal Secrets” is a sprawling, ambitious, major work — a gripping exploration of power, personality, technology and the crushing weight that can come to bear on those who find themselves in its combined path." LA Times
“Outstanding, cool-headed documentary.” 3AW
“Events are still unfolding, so this is a snapshot in time, but Gibney’s conscientious, revealing document proves a mine of valuable information and affecting emotional insights.” Time Out London
“Unfolding like an espionage thriller but with a methodical journalistic skill at organizing a mountain of facts, the film raises stimulating questions about transparency and freedom of information in a world in which governments and corporations have plenty to hide.” The Hollywood Reporter
“Superb, unbiased filmmaking that allows us to make up our own mind about Assange and whether his idealist vision as an innovator has become confused by self-obsessed paranoia” Urban Cinefile
“Alex Gibney adds to his forensic examinations of Enron and Abu Ghraib with another fine documentary. Undeterred by grey areas or the hostility of his subject, the filmmaker tackles one of the stories of our times with dynamism and smarts.” Empire
“The movie is so beautifully crafted and realized that it might well be called flawless.” TV Guide
“Those looking for a summary of the WikiLeaks phenomenon-from the big leaks to the major shifts in public perception about Assange and his cause-won't find a more cleanly delineated version.” A.V. Club
“Compelling, enlightening and utterly accessible, Gibney's ultra-slick pop-doc cleaves through the thorniest thicket of contemporary political issues to find, at its heart, two wholly human stories.” Film4
“If you're looking for a really comprehensive, clear, evenhanded and thoroughly entertaining examination of, well, the story of WikiLeaks, master documentarian Alex Gibney has gone to the trouble of providing you with one.” ABC Radio Australia
