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Snowden trailer: Edward Snowden biopic set to be both eerie and controversial

No actors or actual footage are required to get the feel of the film across

Wednesday 01 July 2015 10:14 BST

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone's Snowden

The first teaser for Oliver Stone's upcoming Edward Snowden biopic Snowden has finally dropped on YouTube, but it might not be quite what film fans were expecting.

Although arguably 'nothing happens' bar some haunting music, shots of a dishevelled-looking, upside-down Stars and Stripes and captions introducing "the most wanted man in the world", for once there are no spoilers and indeed, no footage from the movie.

Sure, another sneak peek at Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role as the NSA whistleblower might have made things a bit more exciting, but this 1 minute 30 second clip is only a precursor to a yet-to-be-released full trailer and already hints at one of the main themes of government hypocrisy.

Very little is given away in the eerie teaser for a movie about the CIA employee who leaked thousands of classified documents to the press in June 2013, sparking global debates about mass surveillance and government secrecy.

All it tells us is that the famous US pledge of allegiance has been corrupted - "One nation/under surveillance/for liberty/and justice for all" - and Snowden has become a wanted criminal aged just 29.

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

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1/12Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Edward Snowden NSA leak

Articles in The Guardian revealed that the US and the UK spied on foreign leaders and diplomats at the 2009 G20 summit.

Reuters

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak

In 2009, former US soldier Chelsea Manning, downloaded hundreds of thousands of classified US Government documents, and passed them on to Jullian Assange's whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. Among the documents were 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables. One disclosed the close relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Guardian reported. Allegations included "lavish gifts", lucrative energy contracts and the use by Berlusconi of a "shadowy" Russian-speaking Italiango-between.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak: In a revelation which bruised the UK's 'special relationship' with the US, WikiLeaks published conversations by US commanders criticising Britain's military operations in Afghanistan.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak: One document disclosed startling levels of corruption in Afghanistan, including an incident involving the then vice-president, Ahmad Zia Massoud, who was reportedly stopped and questioned in Dubai when he flew into the emirate with $52m in cash.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak

Another cable documented fears in Washington over Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, in a volatile country with a strategic position in the Middle East.

PA

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables leak

Day four of the gradual drip of leaks exposed allegations that Russia and its intelligence agencies are using mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations, with one cable reporting that the relationship is so close that the country has become a "virtual mafia state".

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Edward Snowden NSA leak

In 2013, The Guardian published classified US National Security Agency (NSA) documents, from a then anonymous whistleblower. Four days later he was exposed as former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. A month after the initial leak, the New York Times allegeded that the NSA received emails, video clips, photos, voice and video calls, social networking details, logins and other data held by a range of US internet firms.

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Edward Snowden NSA leak

Since Snowden revealed that the US had eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone, German-US relations have been strained. In May 2014, Mrs Merkel said still had significant differences with the United States over surveillance practices and that it was too soon to return to “business as usual," according to the New York Times.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Edward Snowden NSA leak

On 7 June, The Guardian published the Presidential Policy Directive 20, whcih included a list of potential targets for cyber-attacks by the US Government.

Rex Features

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Samy Kamkar iPhone and Android exposé

In April 2014, hacker and researcher Samy Kamkar revealed that Android phones collect user location data every few seconds. Files are then transited to Google several times an hour.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Samy Kamkar iPhone and Android exposé

It is believed Apple and Google are using the data to better target adverts to smartphone users, according to The Guardian.

Getty Images

Whistleblowing controversies of the last decade

Samy Kamkar iPhone and Android exposé

The two companies have since justified the collection of data. In a letter to the US congress Apple confirmed it collected the data and said that, in order to be useful, "the databases [of tower and network locations] must be updated continuously". A Google spokesman told the Guardian Android phones explicitly asked to collect anonymous location data when users turned them on.

Getty Images

None of the cast are shown in the clip. Shailene Woodley is playing Snowden's girlfriend Lindsay Mills, while Zachary Quinto and Melissa Leo play the journalists who first received Snowden's information, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras.

Poitras' documentary about Hong Kong meetings with Snowden, Citizenfour, won Best Documentary Feature at this year's Oscars.

Snowden is scheduled for US release on Christmas Day, with a UK date yet to be confirmed.

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