Contributed
The Okanagan Screen Arts Society will screen Risk Monday, Nov. 20 at 5:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. The film follows the exploits and dangers of risk-taking, left-leaning whistle blowers, journalists and filmmakers.
Directed by renowned and controversial filmmaker, Laura Poitras (Citizen Four), Risk follows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the risks he takes to expose political corruption while struggling to preserve his freedom.
Poitras expands on this theme when her own life comes under scrutiny as she documents Assange’s efforts to be extradited to Ecuador.
Coupled with accusations of Assange’s abuse of women in Sweden, Risk becomes a kind of “cinema verite” in which Poitras becomes part of her own film. Following fallout from an affair with a subject in the film, Poitras led her to expand on the allegations against Assange and shift the focus of the film.
Critics have described Risk as a film that poses knotty questions about the ethics of filmmaking while remaining consistently compelling.
The Okanagan Screen Arts Society is a non-profit group committed to bringing independent, quality, genre-expanding films to Vernon with a goal of providing bursaries and grants to students working in the arts. Monday’s screening of Risk will feature a wine bar, live music from Les Copeland and a brief introduction from local filmmaker and star of the YouTube channel 52 at 52, Matt McDowell.