Winner of the 10th Anniversary L’Oeil d’or prize, Cannes Film Festival 2025 and winner of the first-ever Golden Globe Award for Documentary, The Six Billion Dollar Man reveals the real story behind WikiLeaks - a tense, high-stakes investigation into truth, power, and the global fight for press freedom. Featuring never-before-seen footage and unprecedented access, the film unfolds like a real-life spy thriller, reminding us what is truly at stake when journalism becomes a crime.
The Garden Cinema View:
In the spirit of Laura Poitras’ recent Cover-Up, which traced Seymour Hersh’s pioneering investigative work, The Six Billion Dollar Man turns to his digital age successor.
The case of Julian Assange has inspired numerous documentaries, yet – due to the apocalyptic nature of his work, his bravery, and the decade long legal saga filled with unexpected twists – it’s a story that keeps giving. This latest instalment benefits from the distance and resolution of Assange's case, offering a deeper focus on WikiLeaks as an organization. From its inception to the Chelsea Manning leak and allegations of Russian interference in the USA elections, the film reminds us of WikiLeaks’ crucial role in exposing government crimes – work so disruptive to the status quo, it helps explains Assange’s subsequent ill-treatment. Nearly every facet of Assange's case is revisited with fresh detail: the rape allegations, the chess moves of his legal team, and new revelations about the illicit 24-hour surveillance inside the embassy. The film also explores the fallout from The Guardian’s publication of unredacted cables, while acknowledging Assange’s own arrogance and autocratic streak.
An enthralling story of power struggles and twists, and an examination of one of the great political controversies of our time.
