Laura Poitras

Laura Poitras is an esteemed American filmmaker and journalist. Her works, such as the Academy Award-winning "Citizenfour," a detailed exploration of the Edward Snowden revelations, and "My Country, My Country," which received an Academy Award nomination in 2007, showcase her ability to tell compelling stories through the medium of documentary film. In addition to her film work, she is also a founding editor of The Intercept, an online newspaper known for its investigative journalism on national security and civil liberties. Beyond this, her involvement in the Whitney Biennial exhibition of contemporary American art in 2012 underlines her multifaceted engagement with the art world.

Poitras's focus on national security and government surveillance has not only been the subject of her films but also a central part of her life. She was one of the initial three journalists to receive copies of leaked NSA documents from Edward Snowden in Hong Kong. This led to her producing stories that exposed secret U.S. intelligence activities, a feat which earned her the 2013 Polk Award. In spite of the personal challenges she faced, including constant harassment by border agents, detentions, interrogations, and seizures of her belongings during border crossings into and out of the United States, she remained undeterred, continuing to shed light on these important issues.

Her commitment to her craft and her determination in the face of adversity have earned her numerous awards and accolades. In 2012, she was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, and in 2014, she was awarded the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence by Harvard's Nieman Foundation. Her latest documentary, "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed," which premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in 2022, was awarded the Golden Lion, further solidifying her reputation as a leading figure in the world of documentary filmmaking and journalism.