“Citizenfour” director Laura Poitras thanked whistleblowers and journalists who are “exposing truth” during her acceptance speech after winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Feature on Sunday.
“Disclosures that Edward Snowden reveals don’t only expose a threat to our privacy, but to our democracy itself. When the most important decisions being made that affect all of us are being made in secrecy, we lose our ability to check the powers in control,” Poitras said with Glenn Greenwald at her side. “Thank you to Edward Snowden for his courage, and for the many other whistleblowers. I share this with Glenn Greenwald and the other journalists who are exposing truth. Thank you.”
Poitras shares the Oscar with Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky, who produced the documentary that beat out “Finding Vivian Maier,” “Last Days of Vietnam,” “Virunga” and “The Salt of the Earth.”
The TWC Radius release was no surprise victor, however. In the awards race leading up the 87th Oscars, “Citizenfour” won every single documentary award.
Poitras was filming the documentary while Greenwald was first meeting with Snowden to decide when and how they would release top-secret documents that revealed covert surveillance programs run by the NSA.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Snowden with two counts of violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property in 2013. He is currently living in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum last year.
“The subject of ‘Citizenfour,’ Edward Snowden, could not be here tonight for some treason,” Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris joked after Poitras’ speech.
Oscars Red Carpet Arrivals (Photos)
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Jennifer Lopez ("Boy Next Door")
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Meryl Streep ("Into the Woods")
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Lady Gaga and Keira Knightley ("The Imitation Game")
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Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club")
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Justin Theroux ("The Leftovers") and Jennifer Aniston ("Cake")
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Scarlett Johansson ("The Avengers")
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Nicole Kidman ("Paddington")
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Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game") with wife Sophie Hunter
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Jennifer Hudson
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Kerry Washington ("Scandal")
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Jessica Chastain ("A Most Dangerous Year")
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Director Ava DuVernay ("Selma")
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Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave")
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Reese Witherspoon ("Wild")
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Viola Davis ("How to Get Away with Murder")
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Supermodel Chrissy Teigen
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Jennifer Aniston ("Cake") and Emma Stone ("Birdman")
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Ellar Coltrane
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Rita Ora ("Fifty Shades of Grey")
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Chloe Grace Moretz ("Kick-Ass")
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Cate Blanchett ("The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies")
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Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper")
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Zoe Saldana ("Guardians of the Galaxy")
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Sienna Miller ("American Sniper")
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Naomi Watts ("Birdman")
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Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl")
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Recording artist Adam Levine with model Behati Prinsloo
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Julianne Moore ("Still Alice")
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Marion Cotillard ("Two Days, One Night")
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David Oyelowo ("Selma") and Michael Keaton ("Birdman")
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Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher") with wife Nancy Carell
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Melanie Griffith with daughter Dakota Johnson ("Fifty Shades of Grey")
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Laura Dern ("Wild")
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Margot Robbie ("Focus")
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Joanna Newsom ("Inherent Vice") and Andy Samberg ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine")
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J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash")
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Carmen Ejogo ("Selma")
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Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris with husband David Burtka
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Recording artists Faith Hill, in J. Mendel, and Tim McGraw
Recording artists Tegan Quin and Sara Quin ("Everything Is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie")
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Model Karolina Kurkova rocks Marchesa
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Anna Kendrick ("The Last 5 Years") in Thakoon
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Josh Hutcherson ("The Hunger Games")
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Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin")
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Jamie Chung in Yanina Couture
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America Ferrera in Jenny Packham
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Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
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Kelly Preston and John Travolta
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Ryan Seacrest
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TV personalities Charissa Thompson and Mario Lopez
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Michael Strahan
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Set decorator Tatiana MacDonald ("The Imitation Game") and production designer Maria Djurkovic ("The Imitation Game")
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Michael Keaton with "Birdman" director Alejandro González Iñárritu
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"Good Morning America" TV personality Robin Roberts
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Composer Hans Zimmer ("Interstellar")
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Disney Channel star Zendaya
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Kevin Hart ("Get Hard")
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John Stamos ("Full House")
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Oscar statues outside the entrance of the Dolby Theatre
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Gwyneth Paltrow
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See what all of the Oscar nominees, presenters and guests are wearing as they arrive at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the 87th annual Academy Awards