The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Director: Brian Knappenberger
USA | English
2014 | 120min | Colour
Indian Premiere
Sunday, Nov 8 Club House, 5:30 PM
An investigative documentary, the film follows the story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz’s help in the development of the basic Internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit—currently the most popular social news website in the world—his fingerprints are all over the Internet. But it was Swartz’s groundbreaking work in social justice and political organising combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two-year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life in January of this year, at the age of 26. Aaron’s story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity. The last few years have brought an unprecedented legal crackdown on whistleblowers, activists, leakers and journalists. This film is a personal story of the consequences of that crackdown. It is the story of a tech millionaire forgoing traditional startup culture and putting his programming skills in the service of social justice, and a story about what we lose when we are tone deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties.
Brian Knappenberger
Brian Knappenberger has made multiple award winning documentaries including the independent feature The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was singled out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of the top films of the year. His previous films include We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists about the online hacktivist non-group Anonymous, Life After War about political tensions in post-war Afghanistan and A Murder in Kyiv about the death of a Ukrainian journalist, reportedly at the hands of government officials. He has created numerous other documentaries for PBS FRONTLINE/World, National Geographic, Bloomberg News and the Discovery Channel. He runs the Los Angeles-based production company Luminant Media.
Credits
Director: Brian Knappenberger
Producer: Brian Knappenberger
Screenwriter: Brian Knappenberger
Cinematographers: Lincoln Else, Scott Sinkler
Editors: Bryan Storkel, Michelle Witten, Andy Robertson, Jason Decker, Brian Knappenberger
Sound: Marianna LaFollette, Nathan Tisdale
Music: John Dragonetti
Production Company: Luminant Media
Festival Appearances & Awards
SXSW 2014
New Zealand International Film Festival 2014
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014
Sundance Film Festival 2014
HotDocs Film Festival 2014
