Cover-Up

Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus / United States / 2025 / Czech Premiere / 115 min.

synopsis

American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and many other awards, certainly knows how to ask questions. In the past, this has enabled him to uncover the circumstances surrounding the massacre of Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, the Watergate scandal, and the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. In Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ documentary, however, he finds himself in the position of being questioned. Although he answers questions about his work and personal life with the caution of someone who has learned to protect his sources, his narrative is full of disturbing details from behind the scenes of his laborious search for the truth, which has made him enemies among the most powerful men in America. A chronological overview of his 60-year career is complemented by testimonies from colleagues and documents from Hersch’s extensive archive.

“Obviously, I think that someone like Sy is essential to a flourishing democracy. However, I think that the kind of work that he’s done historically is perhaps more difficult, or it is not rewarded or trusted in the way it once was.” — Mark Obenhaus (Source: Deadline)

Image captions:

1 - Seymour Hersh in his office at the Washington bureau of The New York Times, 1975 - The New York Times/Redux

2 - Seymour Hersh at work in North Vietnam, in 1972, three years after he broke the massacre story - Courtesy Seymour Hersh

3 - Seymour Hersh in his office, 2009 - Courtesy of Mark Mahaney

biography

Laura Poitras (born 1964) is an American director and producer of investigative documentaries, such as Citizenfour (2014), about Edward Snowden, Risk (2016), about Julian Assange, and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022), about Nan Goldin. She has won an Oscar, a Golden Lion, and a Pulitzer Prize for her work. Mark Obenhaus is a veteran American documentary filmmaker known primarily as the director and producer of the investigative documentary series Frontline, broadcast on PBS. He has won several Emmy Awards.