Surveillance Film Festival

Has the portrayal of surveillance in films caught up with us? 

Dystopian Big Brother films from the past show glimpses of a present reality. Spy films and the machinations of spy paraphernalia capture our imagination with fantastical technology. Stasi and Cold War intelligence policing methods shock and titillate people. But Edward Snowden’s revelations opened many eyes to the ubiquitous world of mass surveillance right here and now.

The Surveillance Film Festival is an opportunity to explore the portrayal of surveillance in films and documentaries and ponder the reality of surveillance in our lives today. 

 

Come and enjoy some films and see where the discussion takes us.

Venue: Thistle Hall, Upper Cuba, Wellington City 

Friday 25th March

- 6pm - Farenheit451 (112mins) – then onwards for after-film discussion and drinks at a local pub. 

Saturday 26th March 

- 11am - The Program (8mins) and ABC Secret Room (9mins) - Nicky Hager will be present for a talk after these two short films.
- 12.30pm -  Operation 8 (110mins)
- 3pm - Every Step You Take (65mins) - followed by a chat with Kathleen Kuehn about the ubiquitousness of surveillance
- 5.30pm - Maintenance of Silence (20mins) 
- 7pm - The Lives of Others (137mins) 
Film synopsis: 

Farenheit451 (1966) 112mins
In Bradbury’s dystopian future most people are mindless drones living for instant gratification, plugged into ear buds or watching screens. News is controlled in censored bites, deep-thinking and analysis don’t happen. War economy rules. Sound sort of familiar? But in Farenheit451 all books are banned, is that the only difference?

The Program and ABC News, Secret Room (2012 & 2008)
William Binney and Mark Klein are names that should be familiar. They are whistleblowers who spoke about mass surveillance prior to Snowden’s revelations. The info was out there for us, but so many chose not to listen. Why didn’t we want to know about the surveillance then? Why are we already ignoring Snowden’s revelations?

Operation 8: Deep in the Forest (2011) 110mins
Eight years ago in October dawn raids woke many people, people were briefly jailed and allegations of terrorism were thrown about based on evidence gained by surveillance. This country has a long history of surveillance, see how it was used in this most public case to hinder and control people and think about what is happening now.

Every Step You Take (2007) 65mins
CCTV and face recognition are examples of surveillance to keep people safe. Ten years ago the technology shocked, now it is old. How quick does it all change and how accepting do we become?

Maintenance of Silence (1985) 20mins
Awareness of surveillance seemed to be more common a few decades ago. Tens of thousands protested against the expansion of police and SIS powers, later the Wanganui Computer was bombed. Then Neil Roberts left the quote from Junta Tuitiva of La Paz, ‘We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity’. What does our silence now resemble?

The Lives of Others (2006) 137mins
Surveillance and oppression on the other side of the iron curtain has been a favourite subject for a lot of films. But how different is that past from the future here?

Get Smart - the People's Review of the Intelligence Agencies

The Intelligence Review is a review of New Zealand's intelligence services being conducted by Michael Cullen (ex-politician) and Patsy Reddy (lawyer and board member). It is nothing but a rubberstamp for mass surveillance and the Five-Eyes.

To help compensate for the lack of public consultation, the NZ Council for Civil Liberties is hosting public meetings in Wellington (July 29th) and Auckland (August 6th). They are inviting people to go along to have their say about what should happen to the GCSB, the SIS, and New Zealand’s participation in the Five Eyes spy network.

Public Meeting: Digital power & Social control

The State and corporations have ever increasing data about us, while we know less and less about what they are doing.

Come and join the discussion about collection of personal data, how we can resist this shifting form of social control and understand what’s going on.

Tuesday, 12 May, 6pm 
St John's Church Hall  
(corner of Dixon and Willis Streets, Te Aro, Wellington)

Speakers:

• Thomas Beagle, Tech Liberty
  
• Sandra Grey, Senior Lecturer, VUW
  
• OASIS on What we know about Five Eyes

and the launch of the What If? Campaign
What If? is a new grassroots education and action campaign working to stop data collection and sharing by the NZ State and private corporations for the purposes of social control and exploitation, and working for community control of information resources for the benefit of all.

what_if_campaign@riseup.net

Dirty Wars: film screening & discussion

 

Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.

Join OASIS and Peace Action Wellington for this compelling movie and discussion night at 19 Tory Street, Wellington, on Saturday 14 June at 6pm, and find out more about New Zealand's role in the 'Dirty Wars.'

Crypto Party

A Crypto Party in Wellington:

When: Saturday 26th April 2014, 7pm, 

Where: Enspiral Space, Level 2, 18-24 Allen Street, Te Aro

A Crypto (encryption) Party is an opportunity for people to learn how to keep their online lives private and free from surveillance. It should be a fun-filled evening talking about and practicing email encryption as well as learning programs such as Tor and TrueCrypt.

A CryptoParty is free, public and fun. People bring their computers (but not essential), mobile devices, and a willingness to learn! There will be special trainers on hand to show people how to install and use the software.

CryptoParty is a decentralized, global initiative to introduce the most basic cryptography software and the fundamental concepts of their operation to the general public.

Stop the TICS Bill - public meeting

Public meeting: Stop the TICS (Telecommunications Interception Capability and Security) Bill

7 pm, Monday, 23 September, 7pm
Old St Paul's Church, Mulgrave St, Wellington

Speakers:

• Seeby Woodhouse (Orcon founder)
• Jane Kelsey (Law professor)
• John Minto (Global Peace and Justice Auckland)
• Thomas Beagle (Tech Liberty)
• Vikram Kumar (Mega CEO)

Hosted by Global Peace and Justice Auckland

Media coverage of yesterday's meeting

Radio NZ's report about the meeting last night can be found here.

Nothing to hide - everything to fear

Public meeting: Looking at surveillance beyond the GCSB Bill

Nothing to Hide ... Everything to Fear is the title of a public meeting being hosted by OASIS. The GCSB Bill is just one of the latest in a line of law changes that are expanding and normalising state surveillance.

In recent years there have been many legal changes attacking our rights in the name of security, these include the Terrorism Suppression Act, Maritime Security Act, Border Security, Aviation Security Act, Telecommunications Interception Capability Act, the SIS Act, the Police Act, the Search and Surveillance Act and now back to round two of the GCSB Act and the Telecommunications Interception Capability Act.

All these laws bring in more surveillance and in NZ that is primarily the role of the police, the SIS and the GCSB. Over the years every one of these state agencies has acted outside of their briefs. Every time their illegal activities become public knowledge, there are changes in the law to legalise their activities and / or to expand their powers. What is happening with the GCSB Bill is a case in point.

It is time to say enough is enough – for one of the greatest threats to our security is actually ever-increasing invasion of our privacy. Surveillance is the threat.

Speakers

• Helen Kelly (CTU)
• Thomas Beagle (Tech Liberty)
• Kate Dewes (Peace Campaigner)

Monday, 5 August, 6pm
St John’s Hall,  Willis St/Dixon St

GCSB & the lives of others: Public meeting

Public meeting on the surveillance by the GCSB

You are warmly invited to a public meeting on Monday, May 27 at 6pm at the Mezzanine Meeting room of the Wellington Central Library to discuss the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), the illegal surveillance it conducted, the law change being made to legalise its unlawful activities and the role of the GCSB in the US global surveillance network.

Speakers:
Nicky Hager - author of the book Secret Power which exposed the secrecy of the GCSB
Keith Locke - who has been spied on by the state since he was 10 years old
Michael Bott - member of the NZ Council for Civil Liberties

Wellington Public Meeting

SIS Amendments - “We Do Not Need to Know.”

Keith Locke, Helen Kelly and Nicky Hager will be joining forces in Wellington on Tuesday, 1^st February, to discuss the expanded powers of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) that will be rushed through Parliament in the coming month.

John Key introduced the SIS Amendment Bill in the House just before Parliament broke up for summer. Submissions close on 18^th February.

“It gives little time for public discussion, but that's what Key prefers,” said Anna Cocker from OASIS, the group organising the meeting. “Key wants secrecy about this Bill. He does not want public scrutiny of it.”