Summer screening · ENEMIES OF THE STATE
Friday 25 June, 21:00 - 23:00
at ACUD MACHT NEU, Veteranenstr 21, 10119 Berlin (U8 Rosenthaler Platz) - outdoors
Tickets: €5 - limited seats – via https://pretix.eu/disruptionlab/enemiesofthestate
We are excited to welcome you back to our first in-person event of 2021, a special outdoor screening of the new documentary ENEMIES OF THE STATE (US, 2020, 1h43m, directed by Sonia Kennebeck).
An American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of secrets and lies when their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government, making them all ENEMIES OF THE STATE.
Synopsis
ENEMIES OF THE STATE is a documentary thriller that investigates the strange case of Matt DeHart, an alleged hacker and whistleblower, and his former Cold War spy parents who believe they are at the center of a government conspiracy and are ready to do anything to save their son from prison. This stranger-than-fiction story takes audiences on a wild ride of unexpected plot twists and bizarre discoveries in an artistic and cinematic documentary that blurs the line between reality and paranoia. With extraordinary access to all lead characters and key sources, this film presents many contradicting viewpoints as it attempts to solve a mystery that has kept attorneys, activists and journalists occupied for over a decade.
ENEMIES OF THE STATE is a timely and compelling media and legal case study, showing how conspiracies can be created, evolve, and then be perpetuated with the help of the internet and aided by lack of transparency by the government. At the same time, this film examines the transformation of a local criminal case to an international media story, and the trust – or blindness – of completely devoted parents who will protect their son, literally at all costs.
A powerful combination of investigative journalism and true crime story, ENEMIES OF THE STATE recreates dramatic events with the high production value and feel of a fiction film. The story is as twisted and complex as the Serial podcasts or Making a Murderer, with a beautiful and cinematic visual style comparable to The Imposter or The Thin Blue Line. Similar to these movies, ENEMIES OF THE STATE uses its unreliable narrators to play with the audience’s perception of reality, exposing the power of conviction and manipulation and the significance of seeking the truth.
Sonia Kennebeck (MY/DE/US) is an independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist with more than 15 years of directing and producing experience. She has directed eight television documentaries and more than 50 investigative reports. National Bird, her first feature-length film, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival 2016 and was also selected for Tribeca, Sheffield, and IDFA. In March 2017, National Bird received the prestigious Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize that is awarded to one documentary a year “that defends the public interest, advances or promotes social justice, or illuminates a more just vision of society.” Kennebeck received a master’s degree in international affairs from American University in Washington, D.C. She was born in Malacca, Malaysia, and lives in New York.
In September 2020, Sonia Kennebeck joined our 12th Disruptive Fridays, ‘Global Surveillance in the Data Industry’ and spoke about her work - you can re-watch this episode here.
Funded by: Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa (Senate Department for Culture and Europa, Berlin), Bundeszentrale Für Politische Bildung, the Reva and David Logan Foundation (Grant Provided by NEO Philanthropy). Supported [in Part] by a Grant From the Foundation Open Society Institute in Cooperation with the OSIFE of the Open Society Foundations. Part of Re-Imagine Europe co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
