'Guardians of truth' - DW documentary on the Assange case

For the documentary, Can Dündar followed the case of Julian Assange for six months until his release on June 25, 2024. Dündar joined Stella Assange and her two children on one of their final visits to the British maximum-security prison Belmarsh and accompanied them to Julian’s hearings at the British Royal High Court. 

Dündar and co-director Sarah Mabrouk researched the "Collateral Murder" video, published in 2010 by Wikileaks, which depicts alleged US war crimes in Iraq, showing US soldiers shooting at journalists and civilians from Apache helicopters in Baghdad. The DW team tracked down an Iraqi survivor and a US soldier directly involved in the attack, reuniting them for the first time in 17 years. “This powerful encounter, central to the documentary, tells a captivating story of forgiveness and the quest for truth,” emphasizes Frauke Sandig, commissioning editor, DW Documentaries. 

Can Dündar, film director: "As someone who was accused, convicted and imprisoned on the same charges as Assange, this documentary was like reliving my experiences. At the heart of it is the question: what do we do when the government's right to secrecy clashes with the public's right to information? We tried to question that."

Sarah Mabrouk, film director: "Having seen some of the horrors of the Iraq war firsthand as a journalist, the release of the video 'Collateral Murder' in 2010 and the rare insight it offered into the machinery of this war had a particular impact on me. I later covered most of the Assange extradition hearings in London since 2020, convinced that the outcome of this case would define the boundaries of press freedom for generations to come."

Tim Klimeš, Head of DW Documentaries: "This is first and foremost not a movie about Julian Assange. It's a sincere and in-depth exploration of an alleged war crime that might never have come to public attention without him. This should never be forgotten in the public discussion about him."

Dr. Nadja Scholz, DW Managing Director Programming: "As an international media outlet, it is our job to present facts and shed light on different perspectives. The documentary succeeds in doing this in a very captivating and moving way."

Release and broadcast information

On July 5, 2024 at 7 p.m. CEST, the 52-minute documentary "Guardians of Truth: Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War" will premiere on the DW Documentary YouTube channel in English. From July 27, it will be broadcast worldwide on DW's TV channels in English, Spanish and Arabic. It will also be available on all other DW Documentary language channels on YouTube. 

DW Documentary in English: youtube.com/DWDocumentary
DW Documentary in Spanish: youtube.com/DWDocumental
DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو: youtube.com/DWDocArabia
DW Documentary हिन्दी: youtube.com/DWDocHindi
DW Doku (German): youtube.com/DWDoku