Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras has criticized the heads of the Venice and Toronto festivals for “engaging in some kind of whitewashing” by scheduling glossy Clinton family documentaries.
Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won first prize in Venice, the Golden Lion.
It’s the rare document that lands Superfecta in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she’s thought “long and hard” about whether or not to direct criticism at the same venues hosting her latest work. Still, she said, “journalists need to ask tough questions.”
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton have appeared in both Venice and Toronto to support their upcoming Apple documentary series Gutsy; In support of Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mitelseven’s documentary In Her Hands, produced by the Clintons.
Speaking at the Doc at TIFF on Tuesday, Poitras said “there is nothing more serious that threatens the First Amendment, not only in the [America]The WikiLeaks founder is facing extradition to the United States, where he will be tried under the Espionage Act for his role in spreading revelations about US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These discoveries came at a time when Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
“This is literally the most important issue facing journalism globally at the moment,” Poitras said. “And it’s disturbing to see some of the most powerful people in the world, like Hillary Clinton, walking the red carpet in Venice and at TIFF, saying nothing.”
She added that programming Clinton’s feel-good documentary amounted to “engaging in some kind of whitewashing” on their behalf. “Hillary Clinton has actively participated in the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Poitras said. I supported the escalation of forces. And I find it really disturbing that all of this is forgotten and that we are providing a platform.
“The documentary is journalism,” she added. “Tough questions must be asked. We stand up for the facts and hold people accountable. And I don’t get why there aren’t any more questioning – we really have to look at what this means for the case of the documentary.”
Poitras’ “Bloodshed” is a leading contender for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, the award it previously won in 2015 for Citizenfour, a film about exile from the NSA, whistleblower Edward Snowden.
She added that there was a degree of hypocrisy to see the fall festival program “La Beers,” the latest film by imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Bahani, while at the same time welcoming figures like Clinton. “The US government’s efforts to convict and prosecute Assange are no different, in my opinion, than Jaafar Bahani’s imprisonment,” she said.
More is coming.
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