Since 2009, paid FBI informants have played a central role in nearly 50% of all domestic terrorism cases. Informants, who can earn up to $100,000 per case, are instructed to build relationships with persons of interest. The film (T)ERROR [premiering on PBS February 22; check local listings] focuses on one of these informants, operating under the pseudonym Shariff, who …
Filmmaker Johanna Hamilton talks to us about how she approached telling the 1971 story on film, the most surprising revelations from it, and its resonance with the more recent Wikileaks and Edward Snowden stories.
Critic Noel Murray writes about docs and features — from Chicago 10 to Night Moves — centering around American activists and radicals who’ve defied the status quos, sometimes questionably, and sometimes in ways that today seem more noble than dangerous.
The story of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission in Spies of Mississippi is far from the only instance of US government spying on American citizens. From the MI-8 and Operation SHAMROCK to 1971’s FBI files revelation to Edward Snowden and the NSA, read our survey of some of the more startling cases of domestic surveillance.
Filmmaker Dawn Porter spoke about her second feature documentary, Spies of Mississippi, which explores a lesser-known chapter in American civil rights history. Porter talks about what surprised her the most and what makes it different from previous Civil Rights stories we have seen before.
