Snowden filmmaker Laura Poitras: ‘Facebook is a gift to intelligence agencies’

A Q&A with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Laura Poitras.

In January 2013, she received an e-mail that would eventually change what the world knew about government surveillance. The e-mail came from Edward Snowden, using the alias Citizenfour. That alias is the title of Poitras's latest documentary, an intimate portrait of the eight days she spent in Hong Kong with the former National Security Agency contractor as the first of his revelations made headlines around the world. Poitras, who received a Pulitzer Prize for her work with The Washington Post and the Guardian covering the revelations, discusses the film and how technical advances may make it easier for us to keep our online lives private.