Swiss take in whistleblower Snowden

Swiss broadcaster SRF (CH-DE) has acquired an Oscar-winning documentary about whistleblower Edward Snowden from compatriot firm First Hand Films.

Snowdon

Citizenfour (1×114’), which bagged Best Documentary Feature at last month’s Academy Awards, chronicles former government contractor Snowden’s efforts to lift the lid on post-9/11 US eavesdropping.

Directed by Laura Poitras, the film features journalist Glenn Greenwald and was coproduced by Poitras, Mathilde Bonneyfoy and Dirk Wiltuzky, with Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) among the exec producers.

The broadcaster has also picked up 24 Hours Jerusalem (1440’), Death – A Series About Life (5x 52’), and Five Days To Dance (1 x 59’), which sees two choreographers get a classroom of teenagers up on stage to perform with only five days of preparation.

Meanwhile, SRF 3-sat picked up Harry Dean Stanton (1×54’), a portrait of the iconic actor in his intimate moments, featuring clips from some of his 250 films and his own heart-breaking renditions of American folk songs.