Content note: War, violence
Turkish journalist Can Dündar followed the fight for press freedom in the Julian Assange case for six months before Assange’s surprise release on 25 June 2024. In this film, Dündar and co-director Sarah Mabrouk focus on the disturbing ‘Collateral Murder’ video, Wikileaks’ most controversial publication. It was not the perpetrators who ended up on trial for the possible war crimes committed by US soldiers, but Assange, who had published the secret information. Dündar and Mabrouk find a survivor of the attack in Iraq as well as a US soldier who was involved in the incident, and shows that, even seventeen years after the events, pain and trauma linger.
- The cinema premiere will be followed by a live discussion between the protagonists of the film Sajjad Mutashar and Ethan McCord. Afterwards, a prominent panel will discuss the balancing act between press freedom and politics, guilt, and reconciliation. Director and patron of the HRFFB, Can Dündar, director Sarah Mabrouk, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, and another guest will address these topics. The event will be moderated by Dr. Melinda Crane, Chief Political Correspondent at Deutsche Welle TV. Jan Sebastian Friedrich Rust, co festival director and Managing Director of Aktion gegen den Hunger, as well as Dr. Nadja Scholz, Programm Director DW, and Dr. Maik Thieme,
Managing Director Reporters Without Borders, will welcome the guests and introduce the event.
Initiated and curated by Martina Dase (Strategic Advisor HRFFB, Journalist, Filmmaker) and Frauke Sandig (Commissioning Editor DW Documentaries, Producer of the series 'Guardians of Truth', Filmmaker)
With support of Deutsche Welle (DW) and in Partnership with:
GUARDIANS OF TRUTH - JULIAN ASSANGE AND THE DARK SECRETS OF WAR - TRAILER
Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson is an Icelandic investigative journalist. He studied political science and media, worked as a researcher and freelance journalist, and joined the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) full time in 1991. Until 2010, he worked at RUV, private TV Channel 2, as a news editor, and on documentaries. He collaborated with WikiLeaks on the Collateral Murder video in 2010, later joining WikiLeaks full time, becoming its spokesperson, and in 2018, the Editor-in-Chief.
Can Dündar
Can Dündar
Can Dündar is one of the most prominent Turkish-speaking journalists, authors, and filmmakers. As editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, he reported on arms deliveries by the Turkish secret service to Syria, which led to his sentencing in absentia to over 27 years in prison. He now lives and works in exile in Berlin, where he heads the project #ÖZGÜRÜZ. Dündar has written several books and received numerous awards, including the Reporters Without Borders Human Rights Prize.
Sarah Mabrouk
Sarah Mabrouk
Sarah Mabrouk is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She spent ten years working in news, primarily in the Middle East. She reported on the Iraq war, the Lebanon war, conflicts in Israel/Palestine, the Arab Spring, and Iran. Within the news world, Sarah has worked as a reporter, producer, camerawoman, and writer for press agencies, television, and radio. Her clients have included AP, BBC, CNN, France 24, ZDF and EFE. Most recently she has been working as a reporter and filmmaker for DW.
Dr. Melinda Crane
Dr. Melinda Crane
Dr. Melinda Crane has given speeches and moderated events and discussions for a wide range of international organizations and firms. She is a frequent guest and commentator on German television and radio. An experienced TV anchor, she served as Chief Political Correspondent and Senior Political Analyst at DW TV and also hosts the DW talk show “To the Point”. In 2014 she was awarded the Steuben-Schurz Media Award for her service to transatlantic understanding.
Image description: Film still from Guardians of Truth: Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War. The picture shows Sajjad Mutashar, survivor of the ‘Collateral Murder’ attack. He now lives and works in Baghdad.
Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson is an Icelandic investigative journalist. He studied political science and media, worked as a researcher and freelance journalist, and joined the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) full time in 1991. Until 2010, he worked at RUV, private TV Channel 2, as a news editor, and on documentaries. He collaborated with WikiLeaks on the Collateral Murder video in 2010, later joining WikiLeaks full time, becoming its spokesperson, and in 2018, the Editor-in-Chief.
Can Dündar
Can Dündar
Can Dündar is one of the most prominent Turkish-speaking journalists, authors, and filmmakers. As editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, he reported on arms deliveries by the Turkish secret service to Syria, which led to his sentencing in absentia to over 27 years in prison. He now lives and works in exile in Berlin, where he heads the project #ÖZGÜRÜZ. Dündar has written several books and received numerous awards, including the Reporters Without Borders Human Rights Prize.
Sarah Mabrouk
Sarah Mabrouk
Sarah Mabrouk is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She spent ten years working in news, primarily in the Middle East. She reported on the Iraq war, the Lebanon war, conflicts in Israel/Palestine, the Arab Spring, and Iran. Within the news world, Sarah has worked as a reporter, producer, camerawoman, and writer for press agencies, television, and radio. Her clients have included AP, BBC, CNN, France 24, ZDF and EFE. Most recently she has been working as a reporter and filmmaker for DW.
Dr. Melinda Crane
Dr. Melinda Crane
Dr. Melinda Crane has given speeches and moderated events and discussions for a wide range of international organizations and firms. She is a frequent guest and commentator on German television and radio. An experienced TV anchor, she served as Chief Political Correspondent and Senior Political Analyst at DW TV and also hosts the DW talk show “To the Point”. In 2014 she was awarded the Steuben-Schurz Media Award for her service to transatlantic understanding.
Image description: Film still from Guardians of Truth: Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War. The picture shows Sajjad Mutashar, survivor of the ‘Collateral Murder’ attack. He now lives and works in Baghdad.
