Citizenfour, Laura Poitras’ upcoming Edward Snowden documentary, to screen in Columbia this weekend

Filmmaker Laura Poitras — profiled in this week’s issue of The New Yorker — has made two very well-received documentaries about national security and foreign policy. My Country, My Country (2006) examined life in Iraq under U.S. occupation (and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary). Her film The Oath (2010) presented a look at a man who was once one of Osama Bin Laden’s drivers (watch it free here). 

More recently, Poitras has emerged as part of the Edward Snowden story; she and Glenn Greenwald were the first journalists with whom Snowden shared his discoveries about the NSA’s citizen surveillance program. Poitras’ new documentary, Citizenfour, is an account of Snowden’s ordeal — one of the biggest news stories of this young century — told from the inside.  

The documentary doesn’t hit theaters until October 24, but Citizenfour debuted at the New York Film Festival last Friday, and the True/False Film Fest is holding a surprise screening of Citizenfour in Columbia, Missouri, this weekend. It will play at the Blue Note twice on Sunday, October 19, at 4:30 and 8 p.m. Poitras will Skype with the crowd after both screenings. 

Tickets here. Tickets will also be available on a cash-only basis at the Blue Note on the day of the show.