Cover-Up

Ein Mutmacher für alle, die sich lieber verstecken würden als auf die autoritären Tendenzen und Kriegswirren der Welt zu blicken. Investigativjournalist Seymour Hersh hat Kriegsverbrechen, Vertuschung und Korruption aufgedeckt (My-Lai-Massaker, Abu- Ghraib-Folter, Nord-Stream-Sabotage und anderes), wird aber nicht als Held glorifiziert, sondern nuanciert als zweifelnder Mensch im Spannungsfeld politischer Kräfte porträtiert. COVER-UP verbindet historische Fälle mit aktuellen Katastrophen der Geopolitik und nährt die Hoffnung, dass Mächte, die sich der Kontrolle entziehen wollen, nicht ungestraft bleiben werden. Eindringlich, mehrdimensional, unverzichtbar! (Roman Scheiber)

Now in his late eighties and with a career stretching from 1969 to the present, American investigative journalist and author Seymour “Sy” Hersh is a living legend, having exposed some of the most consequential scandals in modern US history. With their powerful documentary, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus honour a man who has devoted his life to uncovering the harshest of truths. Poitras had already tried to interview him two decades ago, but Hersh declined; now, with Obenhaus’s support, she finally won his consent. The film feels like a legacy—a chronicle of his relentless quest for accountability. We meet him in his paper-strewn office: sharp, caustic, and dry-witted. Questioned by the filmmakers, Hersh, an engaging storyteller, revisits his life: the son of Yiddish-speaking Jews expected to run his father’s dry-cleaning business, his path to journalism was anything but certain. Yet in 1969, he broke the story of the US-perpetrated My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. He later reported on Watergate, the “Family Jewels”, the Gulf War, Abu Ghraib, and more. Far from reverential, COVER-UP weaves together extensive material into a striking portrait of a man defined by integrity and civic duty. Defending free speech has never been more urgent. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

Laura Poitras (Auswahl): MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY (2006), THE OATH (2010), CITIZENFOUR (2014), RISK (2016), ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (2022)