If you’re in Los Angeles this evening, please join me at a special screening of the documentary about the late Aaron Swartz, “The Internet’s Own Boy.” The film has been shortlisted for an Academy Award. After the screening, I will host a question and answer session with the film’s director, Brian Knappenberger.
WHEN: Tonight, January 5, 2015. Film starts promptly at 730pm. Get there by 7.
WHERE: Annenberg Space for Photography Skylight Studios, 10050 Constellation Boulevard, Los Angeles (Century City), CA 90067. Self-Parking in Garage Underneath. $1.00 with validation.
Trailer below.
From the film website:
THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY is 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 organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two year legal battle with the Federal government. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life 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. THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY premiered at 2014 Sundance Film Festival, 2014 SXSW Film Festival and it was opening night for 2014 Hot Docs Film Festival. Don’t miss this film.