Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

Photo of Jamie Kastner by Jeff Harris.

Jacob Appelbaum is a computer programmer, hacker, and journalist. He was a core member of TOR, and a major player in the world of information privacy. Through his access to NSA files released by whistleblower Edward Snowden he helped break stories like the US government spying on Angela Merkel. He was good looking, charismatic  a crucial spokesman for Wikileaks, a highly sought-after writer and pubic speaker and has worked with major cultural stars like Ai Weiwei and Laura Poitras. But in 2016, in the wake of sexual abuse accusations, everything came to a halt. Since then, a cloak of silence has descended on everything about him. Is the US government surveilling him? Is he a victim of Cointelpro? Will he end up like Julian Assange, locked away for years without a  trial? And how come nobody wants to talk about Jacob Appelbaum anymore?

Nobody Wants to Talk About Jacob Appelbaum is a new documentary that looks at this man’s life before and after 2016. It’s clever, surprising and revealing. The film follows him from East Berlin to Tel Aviv to Portugal to interview him and those who know him. It’s the latest work by award-winning Toronto documentarian Jamie Kastner. I’ve previously talked with Jamie about The Secret Disco Revolution (2012), The Skyjacker’s Tale  (2016), There are no Fakes (2019) and Charlotte’s Castle (2023).

I spoke with Jamie Kastner in Toronto via ZOOM.

Nobody Wants to Talk About Jacob Applebaum is screening at the TIFF Lightbox on June 23, and premieres on CBC Gem on June 26th.