Yesterday Harvard students and I had the opportunity to meet with Film Director, Screenwriter, and Producer Mr. Oliver Stone to discuss his newest film Snowden which will premiere Friday this week. Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and Author Ron Suskind facilitated the event and had a great into on the Snowden debate. Whether or not you agree with Snowden he did point out Mr Stone that “Culture eats everything for breakfast”; referring to that the General Public in America watches TV, might not be interested in reading various articles on subjects and the majority will, therefore, know the story of Mr. Snowden based on how Mr. Stone interprets it.
When asked about what the NSA should do with regards to Snowden: “Ed should be the head of NSA”.
When asked about how many times he met with Ed in making of the movie: “Eight times”.
When asked about if this will encourage more people to become whistleblowers he responded: “I hope to God there are more whistleblowers”.
When asked about if Snowden would return to the U.S.: “Snowden would want to go back to the U.S. if he got an open and fair trial. Due to the secrecy nature of his work, there won’t be an open trial.”
The overall event went well. I would have wanted some more challenging questions towards Mr. Stone such as what he believes is the role of government when it comes to surveillance and where the line should be drawn. Look forward to seeing the movie.
