All about Moving Docs
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Theresa May's pet project (and it's not Brexit)
Christmas has come early for the new British Prime Minister. Theresa May’s pet project, the ‘Snooper’s Charter’ to massively ramp up state surveillance, was defeated by Lib Dem opposition during the previous coalition government. But just hours after the ballots were counted on 8 May 2015, a triumphant May announced that the new, unrestrained Conservative government would resurrect the bill, in order to ensure the security services can “keep us safe and secure”. Last week this new Investigatory Powers (IP) Bill passed the final reading in the House of Lords and is likely to become law before the year is up.
Debate around the bill – limited as it was – has tended to polarise around two sometimes abstract positions: On the one hand, those who believe that ‘ordinary’ citizens should have no reason to fear a bit of state surveillance; on the other, those who issue dire warnings about freedom and privacy. So what’s the issue with this legislation – and what will actually change when the IP Bill becomes law?
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About the film – At Home in the World
An intimate and poignant look at a school for refugee children in Denmark.Shot over the course of a year in a Danish school run by the Red Cross, At Home in the World offers a moving glimpse into the lives of five children struggling to learn a new language while adjusting to life in new surroundings. As they await the outcome of their family’s asylum claims, some of the children thrive and build friendships despite their traumatic pasts; others have difficulty containing their fears and sense of alienation.
With astonishing restraint, the film captures its young protagonists’ extraordinary resilience and fragility – while quietly paying tribute to their teachers’ remarkable humanity.
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Meet the NSA whistleblower: Bill Binney's call to action
At the UK premiere of A Good American at Take One Action Film Festival as part of Moving Docs, NSA analyst-turned-whistleblower Bill Binney made a strong case against mass surveillance and for the need to focus.
Here's our video:
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At war against the "totalitarian temptation"
Bill Binney is not mincing his words. In a rallying battle cry against mass surveillance, the former NSA analyst tells an audience at the UK premiere of A Good American that we are basically at war. In every democracy across the world; in our very “hearts and minds”, a war “against the totalitarian temptation” is being waged.
Perhaps because Binney is such a quiet, considered man, his words seem to carry extra weight. But it’s not just his solemnity that captures attention. Binney is not just a campaigner for civil liberties, speaking of principles and rights. He was on the inside – one of them. A high-level NSA analyst, technical director, and one of the best mathematicians the agency ever had, Bill Binney was their man for 32 years. And then, suddenly, he was their enemy.
A Good American tells the story of Binney’s life work, and his persecution by the government. Summarising the situation for the audience at the Take One Action Film Festival, Binney runs through every major terrorist attack in recent years. Madrid, Boston, 9/11, 7/7, Paris, Orlando, the list goes on. “All preventable”, he says, glumly; “all we needed was to watch the metadata.” Instead, the NSA dragged in all the content, swamping analysts with unmanageable volumes of information. They’re still doing it now – NSA, GCHQ, French security and others – trampling privacy and missing clues. It’s this that makes Binney so angry.
Thankfully, he found someone who would tell his story.
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