Citizenfour Quotes

Edward Snowden: Assume your adversary is capable of one trillion guesses per second.

Edward Snowden: You asked why I picked you. I didn't. You did.

William Binney: I don't know why they came with their guns drawn.

Edward Snowden: We are building the biggest weapon for oppression in the history of mankind.

Edward Snowden: We all have a stake in this, this is our country and the balance of power between the citizenry and the government is becoming that of the ruling and the ruled as opposed to actually, you know, the elected and the electorate.

[TITLE CARDS]: [TITLE CARD] I moved to Berlin to protect my film footage from being seized at the US border.When the emails arrived, I increased secuirty.

[TITLE CARDS]: [TITLE CARD] William Binney is a legendary NSA cryto-mathematician. During the Cold War, he analyzed nuclear threats. In the 90's he shifted his focus to the internet and developed methods of mass data analysis.

[FIRST TITLE CARDS]: I was placed on a secret watchlist after making a film about the Iraq War. In the following years I was detailed and interrogated at the US border dozens of times.

[FIRST TITLE CARDS]: My next film was about Guantanamo and the war on terror.

[FIRST TITLE CARDS]: This is the third part of a trilogy about America post 9/11.

TITLE CARD]: In 2012, an anonymous source contacts Glen Greenwald.They are not able to secure a communication method, so their correspondence stalls.

TITLE CARD]: A month later I start recieving anonymous encrypted emails.

TITLE CARD]: The NSA has built the world's largest repository for intercepted communications in Bluffdale Utah. I started filming the site in 2011 when construction began.

TITLE CARD]: Minutes after meeting, I set up the camera and start filming an encounter that will unfold over eight days.

TITLE CARD]: The Guardian, where Glenn Greenwald is now working, also investigative reporter Even McAkill.

TITLE CARD]: Six hours later Glenn Greenwald publishes the first story.

TITLE CARD]: I publish the second story in the Washington Post, together with journalist Barton Gellman

TITLE CARD]: The Guardian reports on the same NSA program soon after.

TITLE CARD]: Snowden applies for refugee status through the UN and goes underground.

TITLE CARD]: I stay in Hong Kong, hoping to continue filming but realize I am being followed. Six days later I return to Berlin.

TITLE CARD]: On June 21, 2013, the US government charges Snowden with three felonies, two under the Espionage Act and asks Hong Kong to extradite him.

TITLE CARD]: Two days later WikiLeaks organizes his departure from Hong Kong to seek political asylum.

TITLE CARD]: An international group of lawyers representing Snowden pro bono meets to discuss his legal status.

TITLE CARD]: On July 20, 2013, the UK government pressures The Guardian to destroy the GCHQ archive given to Ewen Maskill in Hong Kong.

TITLE CARD]: After 40 days in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, Snowden receives political asylum in Russia for one year.

TITLE CARD]: On his return from meeting me in Berlin, Glenn Greenwald's partner David Miranda, is detained at London's Heathrow Airport for nine hours under the UK's Terrorism Act.

TITLE CARD]: The White House is notified in advance.

TITLE CARD]: In September 2013, the European Parliament begins hearings to investigate NSA surveillance on EU citizens and companies

TITLE CARD]: In March 2014, Germany begins a parliamentary inquiry to investigate NSA spying.

TITLE CARD]: William Binney is asked to testify as an expert witness.

TITLE CARD]: Binney's testimony is interrupted when news breaks that the CIA has a double agent spying on the German NSA inquiry

TITLE CARD]: In July 2014 Edward Snowden's longtime partner, Lindsay Mills moves to Moscow to be with him.