XY Chelsea, a documentary about whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
Produced by Laura Poitras (RISK, Citizenfour) with filmmaker Tim Travers Hawkins, XY Chelsea follows Manning as she is released from Fort Leavenworth, an all-male maximum-security prison in Kansas, for disclosing classified materials to WikiLeaks. Before leaving the White House, President Barack Obama commuted all but four months of Manning’s remaining prison term. She served 7 years of a 35-year sentence.
Manning, 31, came out transgender on the day after she was sentenced.
“Shot over two years and featuring exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes veritÉ with Manning, the film picks up on the momentous day in May when she leaves prison and follows her through her journey of discovery, while also examining her place in the conversation on national security and the fight of the transgender community for rights and visibility,” Showtime said of the film in a press release.
The film also takes a look at Manning’s failed 2018 bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.
A federal judge earlier this month sent Manning to the Alexandria jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. Her lawyers said Friday that they have asked the judge to release Manning, arguing that an indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges make her testimony unnecessary.
