World cinema premiere in Mullumbimby: The Assange Agenda

A new locally made documentary that looks at the implications and broader issues raised by Julian Assange will get its first cinema screening on Friday September 27 at Mullum Flicks, starting at 7.30pm.

The Assange Agenda was made against a backdrop of recent leaks by NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, who revealed mass telecommunications surveillance of citizens, governments and officials by US government agencies. The documentary asks some key experts to examine the choices democracies face at this crucial moment in history. It raises issues about privacy, surveillance, open government, civil liberties, torture and in the end what democracy means in the information age.

The documentary’s maker Michael Weatherhead says, ‘It’s not only what this means for us now but what this could mean if that power is abused as it was by the great dictators of the past. We started making this film because no-one had addressed what we termed the Assange Agenda of transparency and accountability – what we found was more revealing than we expected.’

Appearing in the film are ex-CIA agent and author Glenn Carle, Julian Burnside QC, Assange’s lawyer in Australia, Dr Sean Rintel from School of Journalism and Communication, University of Queeensland, Dr Sebastian Kaempf from UQ’s School of Political Science and International Studies and Dr Mark Andrejevic from UQ’s Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies.

See the film and meet the directors, Michael Weatherhead and Dr Lucy Anna Rhoades, and join the Q&A session at the Mullumbimby Drill Hall at 7.30pm on 27 September, dinner with the directors at 6.30pm. Julian’s father will also be in attendance.