anonymous

I am reminded why it is good to see documentaries in Los Angeles; half the time the filmmakers live here and are in the audience and half the audience is in the film or was working on it. Such was the case this weekend when we checked out this outstanding new doc,We Are Legion. Writer/directer, Brian Knappenberger was answering questions and we happened to be sitting next to the film's editor.  

If you are at all interested in anthropology, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement, politics, activism, or power to the people, or even cheap laughs, check it out, by nature of the content they have uploaded a version to youtube already.     

What's it about exactly? Well, the film chronicles the pretty incredible way disorganized internet users  coalesced into the political movement called Anonymous, which is closely tied to and overlaps with the Occupy Movement.

 < Computer Hacking + Activism = Hacktivism >

Documentaries like this are fascinating to watch because this is not ancient history, in fact the filmmaker was saying that he was literally updating the film as they were editing in the previous weeks. Major developments are happening, one of the Anonymous leaders admitted to being an FBI informant, some of the hackers are on trial, there is still civil unrest in the Middle East. This is an evolving movement that we are watching real time. To have a reflection on how this all started so early in the game is immediate gratification, like watching 100 hours of news feed condensed into one entertaining and important story.