Teen Event: Citizen Four
May 16, 2016

Youth Insights (YI) Leaders hosted a special screening for teens of the film, CITIZENFOUR on April 8, followed by a teen-moderated Q&A with artist and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Laura Poitras. The teens were also invited to view the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, Laura Poitras: Astro Noise.

CITIZENFOUR is a suspenseful documentary that gives audiences unprecedented access to Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he handed over classified documents providing evidence of the mass indiscriminate and illegal collection of personal data by the National Security Agency (NSA).

After the screening, teens asked insightful questions about the film and the issues it raised, generating a dynamic exchange between Poitras and the audience. Discussion topics ranged from surveillance, power, privacy, and growing up in the post-9/11 era, to the meaning of freedom and fighting for our civil liberties. On the subject of caring about privacy, Poitras asked a teen if he would be willing to give out the password to his email account. His response was “Uh, I’m reluctant to answer that,” underscoring, for everyone present, the importance of protecting our rights.

Sasha Wortzel, Coordinator of Teen Programs said: “At the start of the year, Youth Insights Leaders expressed a desire to create challenging and critical programs about current issues for their peers. This event certainly fulfilled their mission. We’re proud of it and we look forward to producing more teen-led events that are complex and responsive to what is happening now in the world.” 

Learn more about Teen Programs here. 

Dina Helal, Manager of Education Resources