Risk: New Documentary on Julian Assange Coming This Summer (VIDEO)

The preview for “Risk,” a film by Laura Poitras, aired after the season finale of Homeland on Sunday evening. Poitras also directed the Oscar-winning documentary “Citizenfour” about National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

“RISK is a portrait of power, principles, betrayal, and sacrifice when the stakes could not be any higher. It is a first-person geopolitical thriller told from the perspective of a filmmaker immersed in the worlds of state surveillance and the cypherpunk movement,” Showtime wrote in the description for the trailer. “RISK confirms Poitras' directorial ability to record history as it unfolds on camera, and craft narratives at the highest level. Showtime Networks has partnered with NEON to release RISK theatrically nationwide, with a television premiere on SHOWTIME this summer.”

After filming for six years, the documentary made its debut last year at the Cannes Film Festival. Poitras is currently in the process of updating the film to cover the 2016 presidential election.

“Laura Poitras leverages incredible access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange into an intimate and somewhat unwieldy portrait of the world’s single most controversial media personality,” Peter Debruge wrote in his review of Risk after the festival debut last year.

Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail is also an executive producer of the documentary.

“It is an exciting time to be working with Showtime and Neon,” Poitras told Variety. “Both organizations are thinking outside the box about how to bring complex stories to a wide audience. I am thrilled to team up with them on ‘Risk.'”

Assange entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 19, 2012, and applied for political asylum, which was granted. Since that time, the building has been encircled by police waiting to arrest him to answer for rape allegations against him in Sweden. The country has refused to rule out the publisher’s extradition to the United States. 

Assange and supporters, including the Women Against Rape organization, have long maintained that the charges against him are false and a ruse to get him into the hands of the US government.

“We oppose the use of rape for political agendas which undermine protection and justice for both rape victim and accused. We are appalled that rape allegations may be manipulated to facilitate Mr Assange’s extradition or even rendition to the US where elected officials have called for his execution for his Wikileaks activities. How can anyone ignore this threat? WAR cannot. We oppose the death penalty for any crime, let alone when no charges have been brought,” Women Against Rape wrote on their website in 2011.