Speaker 1Hello my friends, welcome back to the James Kennedy podcast, and I come bearing good news! Because as I'm sure you all know by now, unless you've been living under a rock, that the man Julian Assange is finally free! Man, what a curveball that was, I didn't see that one coming at all, that was fast! As you know, I was campaigning for a long time for this, and we were actually gearing up for the beginning of the appeal process on July the 9th. And then I woke up this time last week, you know, looked on the internet, and oh, Julian Assange is free! Like, Jesus Christ, what the fuck? First I thought it was like one of those sick memes that goes around, you know, but as the day went on, you know, it transpired that okay, right, fucking hell, he's free! And by the end of the same day, the dude touched down on home turf in Australia, and he was officially a free man, and we all saw that footage that is, I think, going to become historic, iconic footage of him walking across the runway with his fist in the air, and then hugging his wife Stella, and his father, and the crowd's cheering, and it was like, wow, this is a real moment in history, man. And, like, when I went to bed last night, the dude was, as far as I was aware, still in Belmarsh prison. You know, it all turned around very, very quick. But I've been told since that this had been an option that was in the works for a long time. But for the rest of us, it just looked like something that had happened overnight, you know? It was a real curveball, and I'm still adjusting to the fact that after, like, 14 years of house arrest, living in the Ecuadorian embassy, being in Belmarsh prison, just like the click of a finger, now Julian Assange is free, is a free man. I mean, for a start, what amazing, incredible news for all of us that care and support this cause and have them for a long time, and what incredible news as well for Stella and the family who've been working tirelessly on this for such a long time now. I can't imagine what they are feeling right now, and also for Julian. I mean, the dude's been living in solitary confinement in Belmarsh prison for five years. I mean, that is just a fucking travesty and a scandal that would be a stain and a shame on our times when future generations look back and they'll be like, "Oh, okay, that's what they were doing back then, imprisoning one of the world's most awarded journalists for telling the truth about actual criminals." But after going through all of that and living in solitary confinement for five years, all of a sudden, in the space of a day, the dude is outside, he's on a plane, he's now, you know, with his wife and his family. I just can't imagine how one's brain processes that, but I know it's going to take him a long time to, you know, recover and recalibrate and figure things out and process and readjust to normal life again. But what wonderful, amazing news. This really is a victory of such importance, both, you know, symbolically and literally. And there are so many people who've been working so hard on this for such a long time who really should be patting themselves on the back right now and raising a glass to Julian, to Stella, and to themselves. So we are going to be talking exclusively about this issue on this episode. We're going to be finding out exactly what happened this time. Last week, what this case means, and a reminder as to what started all of this madness in the first place. I'll be joined today by Kim Statton, calling in all the way from Australia. Kim is the writer and director and creator of the brilliant Julian Assange documentary called The Trust Fall. The movie is an incredible deep dive into the whole history of this case, and it's also a brilliant reminder of all of the amazing and important work that Julian Assange has actually done. It's an insight into what happens when you trust someone. When you challenge power, why we need Julian Assange and people like him more now than ever before. And it also features an amazing roster of awesome dudes such as Roger Waters, Tom Morello, and many, many more. It is a fascinating, maddening, inspiring, and moving documentary that I would strongly recommend everybody go and check out. It's due to be released in cinemas in the US. It's already had a successful run in cinemas in the UK, and it's received unanimously high praise in press the world over. I'm interested in talking to Kim. Not only about the incredible documentary and all things Julian Assange, but also how this latest news of Julian's sudden freedom is likely to affect the movie and also to get Kim's thoughts on exactly what happened last week. So without further ado, please welcome to the podcast, Mr. Kim Statton calling in from Australia. Kim, how are you doing? And also, how are you feeling, man, given the other news that we've all recently received?
Speaker 2Kim Statton: Feeling good. I mean, last week was just such a mind blowing week. We have huge news and from Natalia, my partner and co-producer of the film, some travel because we happened to be in Canberra. We were on the way to Canberra actually to appear at a screening of The Trustful at the National Film and Sound Archive and just happened to be there at the right time. It was really kind of almost like serendipitous that we were actually there. You know, Australia is a huge country. And with the amount of short notice that everyone sort of had that he was free and then arriving in Canberra, like no chance we would have got down there. And so we just happened to be there and it was incredible. And we just got back a couple of days ago and I'm still processing this. It's a big adjustment actually, because it's been for me personally, three years of full time awareness building, education, activism on this cause. You know, I've been there for a long time and I've been there for a long time. And I've been there for a long time and I've been there for a long time and I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time.
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Speaker 2I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time.
Speaker 1I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time. I've been there for a long time.
Speaker 2massively in his favor though, you know, 70 to 100 literally one count out of the 18 counts that he had to plead guilty to. And it wasn't one of the worst counts on the indictment. It was one of conspiracy to obtain classified information and disseminate that information, which is basically a publishing charge, just one of the many publishing charges. It wasn't the computer intrusion charge. So, you know, but as you say, like, the main thing is it's so important that he got free right now because he could only survive so long in those conditions, extremely oppressive conditions, solitary 22 hours a day in a six-meter-square cell. You know, it's enough to drive anyone mad. He'd had a mini-stroke about a year ago, and things would have got worse in the U.S. He could have been up for 175 years. Prison sentence, they would have tortured him. They would have kept him under what they call SAM, Special Administrative Measures, which is basically torture. So, you know, it's really a life-saving result, this plea deal. It's to save his life. And it was wonderful to see that despite all these health concerns that he, you know, walked to that private jet unassisted, and he seems to be quite well. Quite well, you know, considering I'm sure there's a lot of health issues that he has to look into. I know that he had a nurse on board on the plane with him. No doubt he'll be getting a lot of attention on his medical side of things over the coming weeks and months.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how this one unfolds. And obviously, if Julian does return to public life, what new information he'll be able to give us about the journey, the journey that he's been on for the past decade or more. But what does this case represent to you, more broadly speaking, not just focusing upon Julian's personal circumstances, but what does this case represent to you in terms of, you know, press freedom and democracy? And what precedent does the outcome of this case set for other journalists around the world who are doing similar work to Julian and being punished in a similar way? What does it represent to you?
Speaker 2Yeah, it represents a lot of big things. And that's why the support has just grown and grown. And the U.S. knew that that support was growing all around the world and from many different camps, people in very different opinions, both the right and left side of politics in Australia and in the U.S. As Stella Assange said at her speech in Sydney when she visited about six months ago, she said, this campaign has brought together, you know, people that I perhaps wouldn't otherwise have a conversation with. So, you know, it's about free speech. It's about press freedom. It's about world peace, you know, journalism. And it's also, you know, about the freedom movement broadly. I think freedom is, I've really noticed in Australia here when we had the, when the cinema run here kicked off with the Trust Four, we had freedom fighters, as they're called, in massive support. It didn't take long for us, to hear from those people and they were so willing to help for no benefit of their own just to get the word out about the film and come and, you know, be on the panels and just put it out and attract a lot of people to come and hear this story and understand this story because they understand the connection between Assange, what he exposed, the work he's done and the broader movement of all of our freedoms. They say that free speech is the first, first freedom because all our other human rights stem from that. If we can't say what we want, challenge government, speak our mind, how can we have any other sort of human rights? How can we fight for any other cause? There was, you know, a wonderful speech that Kristen Hafenson, the current editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, at the beginning of the extradition trial in London, there was this huge protest down the street and prior to that they had speeches with people like Tariq Ali and Roger Waters and Kristen Hafenson in that speech, at the end of the speech, she said, you know, you will not be able to fight for any other cause. This is about the fundamentals. We put that in the Trustful film because I just thought it was such a powerful line. It hadn't occurred to me actually until I heard that, that if you're, for example, fighting for, you know, animal rights or women's rights or human rights or whatever, you're not going to be able to fight for any other cause. It is, how do you fight for that if you can't put out truthful information? So, you know, this is a decade and a half that this has been going on and Julian has been taking on this massive empire. It's really a David and Goliath story. And Julian is the brave David taking on a Goliath of an empire. The US is the biggest empire on the planet, probably the biggest empire that's ever existed. Army bases around the world, they have interference or involvement in pretty much every country on the planet. And they're the big guys. And, you know, Julian, a single man with a wonderful team behind him, taking them on for nearly 15 years by putting out this shocking information through these leaks that occurred in 2010, 2011. Incredible stuff that was put out at that time that got the US really freaked out and really riled up and going after him with everything that they could muster.
Speaker 1100%, yeah, man. It's a fascinating story. And it's really interesting to be here at this moment in history when it's playing out, you know, in front of our eyes, you know. And I agree with you. It is a massive win for the reasons you've mentioned. And I think this is a perfect place to launch into talking about your incredible movie, The Trust Fall. It's doing so well. And it's just about to launch in cinemas in the States. Is that right?
Speaker 2Yeah, that's right. Releasing in cinemas in America on the 17th of July. Just before we get into the film, I just wanted to mention, because you said just then, it's so incredible to be here, you know, to be living at this time in history. And we have this wonderful, incredibly courageous figure being Julian Assange. In my mind, you know, I don't know if you've heard of Ghandi or Mandela as far as his achievements for human rights and his courage to stand up against the hegemony. I just wanted to mention that my partner and I, we were, yeah, just being amongst a very few number of people at the RAAF hangar in Canberra because we just happened to be down there. And we, you know, figured out where he was going to land. And, you know, we had to let him get off the plane with our own eyes, whereas, and there was really only 50 people there and 40 of them were news photographers. There was just maybe 10 or so there. Funny story of how we actually happened to be there. Not just that we were down in Canberra, but on the day, you know, on Tuesday when we heard the news, you know, the first thing we said was, well, where is he going to land? It might be in Melbourne because his father, John, and his brother Gabriel lived there and he went to university there. Steve Melbourne. Could be Sydney because that's the main airport in Australia. Could be somewhere near where his mother lives, which is, I won't say where that is. But, you know, it could have been any of these places. But then, you know, when we, Stella, I think, posted some flight details of his flight path of this private jet. And, you know, we found out it was Canberra. And it's like, wow, we're here. And we actually had plans the next day and we had to cancel them, which is something I rarely do. I'm someone that likes to really stick to my plans and not muck people around. But on this rare occasion, I was going to be reading poetry from my poetry book, The Trustful, and other poems in a town called Bowral, south of Sydney, inland from Wollongong, the next day. And I had to cancel that even though I was really excited to go there and share my poetry, do this reading. But, of course, they understood because they were all Assange supporters. And so, you know, now we realise, okay, we're going to book an Airbnb in Canberra, we're going to be here. Now we've got to find out where exactly he's coming out at the airport. And so we thought we'll just lob in there to Canberra International Airport and we'll just hang around in the international arrivals area. And if it's the right place, then the press photographers and reporters are just going to gather and his supporters. And it'll be hundreds of people there. And we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. And then we're like, okay, we've got to find out where he's coming from. take photos but there's no one there it doesn't look like it's going to happen there uh we we're all hanging around for about an hour an hour and a half it's getting closer to 7 p.m uh he's due to land in in only about an hour still don't know if if it's the place and uh and then she said oh my you know top management the the office people just told me it's at the raaf which is like you know we get on google maps ah that's the other end of the airport and so we drive around there at night uh and there's all you know of course the boom gates and everything and all the big fences and we're thinking we might have to jump the fence or something but uh you know there's all the reporters we we saw that you know dozens of cars and all the cameras out and tripods and then you know so we basically found the right place and then we're all out there in the freezing cold it's probably zero degrees out canberra night and winter um and saw the plane come down and we're all out there in the freezing cold it's probably zero degrees out canberra night and down and it was just extraordinary you know just as i said to witness it with your own eyes is really special the plane just came in uh they opened the door he pops his head out does a big thumbs up and uh and then you know dances down the pretty much dances down the the uh tarmac and gives his dad a big hug and picks up stella off her feet and which everyone saw of course i mean imagine how many people in the world watch that um and and something that occurred to me which i think is really fascinating is i wonder if any single person on the planet in history has ever had that amount of support that julian assange has had in the last you know week or year or so but especially with this news um because you know i mentioned mandela and and uh gandhi but you know they lived before the war and they lived before the war and they lived before the war and they lived before the time of social media and i think it's quite fascinating in that you know the internet and social media um julian has this quote quote about the internet um i can't remember the exact words but it's something like you know the internet is the best thing that's ever happened to humanity um and he really was warning us you know 15 years ago about the internet that it would be co-opted by corporations and it could be really beneficial to us or not depending on how it was used and uh you know so i think it's interesting to consider that it could have been easily uh one or two billion people saw that footage understood even if they don't understand the whole story of assange they at least know they get the gist of it he he took them on he exposed their crimes uh he had to take a plea deal and now he's free after 15 years of suffering just that simple story uh and i think it's interesting to consider that and and you know any decent person has to side with him um regardless you know mainstream still trying to perpetuate all these garbage myths and lies about and smears about him yeah but
Speaker 1i mean i can't imagine i mean it's such a historic piece of footage now already isn't it of him walking down the tarmac and his fist in the air and then he kisses stella and everything and i mean i've watched it several times and you can just hear people screaming thank you and well
Speaker 2done assange and stuff yeah it's that was us you know that was all all the people right next to us all you know i thought it was all journalists at first but so many cheers and claps and everyone was screaming out and he walks right over right near the fence and just waves he was so excited he was so happy not just because he'd arrived back home after all those you know 15 years and he's free but also just i think really pleased to see so many supporters there even though they didn't put it out uh they didn't uh they must have been told you know they must have this out but as as wikileaks love to do they leak something just a little bit of information with that little flight log was enough to sort of uh help people figure out where exactly where they
Speaker 1were going to land yeah well i was following the flight i think um stella put it out didn't she um say like you know until he's on australian soil you know follow the flight in case something happens because we still didn't know at that point you know like going to some remote island in the middle of the uh pacific ocean or whatever on america and um territory it's still you know anything could happen i guess you know so i that was doing the rounds on uh on social media i was kind of following the flight and everything as well from over here in south wales and um yeah to just see the footage then confirm that he'd finally touched down you know and uh you know to see him you know waving to the crowd and everything was i knew straight away i was like that is going to be a piece of historic footage and you're exactly right because i mean like every time that i went to the royal courts of justice to do my thing there was tons of press there but i didn't notice any of the mainstream media i didn't see any bbc i didn't see any guardian and we were actively looking for them and i checked the the um the news reports on the websites and social media nothing but now he's free you can't find anyone that doesn't support him you know it's like even the people that i used to talk to who'd never heard of him because he wasn't in the news now they've all seen that footage because as you rightly point out you know it's social media we've got that aspect now with this particular case as well on um everybody now knows who he is and what he's done and you can't seem to find anyone now that doesn't support him you know it's it's interesting how things go full circle yeah yeah yeah it is
Speaker 2interesting how you know for example in australia abc television covered it uh it massively they've been covering it for years i guess um but you know throwing in some of the old smears he put lives at risk and stuff i mean they literally did that simultaneous with they they did like a one coverage as news love to do uh you know which is good thing uh but then they were throwing in these sort of old hackneyed smears uh throughout which was really bizarre and then you've had these you know murdoch owned channel sky news uh putting out absolute rubbish like i saw some little clips out of sky news with them saying you know he put lives at risk didn't redact data dump all this stuff and then you and then you had like the age the australian newspapers the print media putting out all the all the smears again over the over the last few days uh so i was pretty shocked to see you know the the level that they stooped to with all of this disgusting uh criticism and just opinions who cares about their opinions you know they and these people they either fail to see the big picture uh they have some sort of vested interest in the big picture and they either fail to see the big picture their family or something is involved in the the security uh agencies or something uh or or they're journalists that have been in it for you know their whole life and they're just simply jealous they can't get over their own jealousy that you know billions won like three dozen awards or something uh it just makes them really cranky and so they write all these disgusting stuff but as you say it's you know the public they know what's up uh they get they can discern uh you know of a hero from from a villain and uh he can't be painted as a villain anymore um it it's i think this is a progression in this whole sort of story this whole setup of uh you know independent media versus mainstream uh you know the powerful elite with their uh the the industrial war complex um uh you know taking on being taken on by by a journalist that actually wants to bring about a more peaceful world through transparency so that whole conflict uh between those parties that's gone on for all this time now this is a turning point where he's now he's free um to some degree he's basically you know most of the charges dropped only only one token charge was agreed to and so uh i think it'll be great to see if more of the public can look into this story and can um you know look at look at lock past the individual and past this personality of julian uh and and the criticisms of him and but look at what they exposed you know look at that information what's in the leaks what's on the
Speaker 1wiki leaks website 100 yeah i don't think it's inconceivable in our lifetime we're going to see julian awarded some kind of you know nobel prize or something like that i think he's going to transition it just universally from being a conflict a kind of divisive figure or you know a villain i think he's going to be come to known to be known universally as a hero i think that's going to happen in our lifetime and very much like i said you know use the mandela um analogy there it's you know like at the time you know margaret thatcher and several other world leaders declared him as you know a terrorist and stuff like that and now he's like this global icon i think the same is going to happen to julian i think it's going to happen
Speaker 2in our lifetime yeah well well mandela won i know nobel prize and he was actually a terrorist whereas julian you know he was called a high-tech terrorist by by biden and others uh you know i think well look the the nobel prize has become a bit corrupted over the last 10 years or so and but you know it would be nice if he won that award or some other award but yeah uh definitely the public opinion is is has swung massively in his favor uh i think it just takes time for you know these rumors to sort of be uh debunked and and for them to just be gradually weeded out and you know that's something we we did in the trust fall we didn't shy away from sort of bringing up these smears but we we just basically brought them up and kicked them out of the park and because they still perpetuate and and julian you know the the swedish smear for example he described that in an interview as you know the worst day of his life uh seeing that sort of lie on the front page of newspapers and you know so i think i think it's those sort of rumors and smears can't really last much longer because uh anyone can go on you know read up on it or go on youtube even has some uh really well done uh videos explaining uh debunking all that all of those rumors and so yeah hopefully the public attention can shift up
Speaker 1over onto the the important stuff i think it will yeah i think you're exactly right and what is your gut feeling then on how this is going to play out i mean obviously it's an impossible thing for anyone to say at this point and obviously all of us just want you know whatever julian needs and wants to be happy and healthy and enjoy the rest of his life you know the man's done enough and if he just wants to kick back and have a normal life with his family then you know nobody would begrudge him that but that doesn't seem to fit with his personality type from what i know of it so i'd love to ask you you know what are your thoughts what is your gut instinct on what you think is likely to play out in the future once julian has you know recovered and and recharged do you think it's conceivable that he might actually come back to doing what he does best yeah well it's a fascinating
Speaker 2question and i think every interview i've done since this uh momentous event i've been asked that question um you know of course the first thing we hope is that he just does what he wants to do and if what he feels what feels right to him first he certainly needs to recover his health first and that may take quite a while uh you know my my opinion my feeling from what i've learned about julian over this last few years of intense research and making this film i had a few uh interactions with people that gave me quite an insight into his sort of mission in life and his his drive his commitment to uh this cause that he's been fighting for for you know much longer than wiki leaks has been in existence it started a lot a lot earlier than that i'll i'll share a couple of anecdotes that will give you a bit of a picture and understand like you know my feelings on it and so uh when we were in the production stage with the film i had random people all the time you know sending me photos and videos you know donating footage which was fantastic and uh one day there was a lady from a town called lismore where julian did live for some time uh as a child uh it's in it's in sort of northern new south wales and this woman used to work with his mother christine assange and they were working on a puppet show together um because christine was an artist and so julian and this lady's son used to play together and they would come to the house frequently and one day this woman asked julian what do you want to be when you grow up and he said at the age of eight years old i'm going to end corruption in the world it's mind-blowing i mean never mind firemen or you know professional tennis player or you know i've never heard a kid say that it's crazy right and i think that indicates that you know he was sort of you know without getting into woo woo it was like he was on a mission here right from that early age and and i know from reading interviews with his mother and talking to her over the phone that uh you know he when he was around that age his his favorite word was why and her and uh jeff assange uh which is sort of the guy that brought him up because john john was not around uh you know they they didn't shy from that so they used to take him door knocking to you know advocate for dolphins and for rainforests and causes like that so he's sort of brought up in an activist family right so that's the first thing uh and then i guess the next one is apart from you know his uh courage and fortitude with going through this situation and i think that's the first thing that i'd like to say is that you know i think that's the first thing that i'd like to say is um it's uh in his i think it's his 20s if not his early 30s where as a as a hacker uh which was what something he was into from his teens to his 20s um he was he was an ethical hacker i should point out that he you know uh he went to court at one stage for hacking and the judge actually pointed out you know they dropped the charge and said uh i can see that you were just curious and looking around so i think that's the first thing that i'd like to say is that you know he was an ethical hacker he was an ethical hacker yeah you know but when he was uh he had that skill right because he was a computer genius and at one stage on two two occasions he helped the victorian police track down pedophiles so this is before the days of wikileaks so that gives you a bit of an idea of the julian uh you know what what his mission is and he's always you know another one is when i was talking to sue ellett dreyfus his uh long-term friend and she's an encryption professor at the university of melbourne and she's an encryption professor at the university of melbourne and she's an encryption professor at the university of melbourne and she was actually there at the hangar on wednesday night um you know greeting him uh she told me in the interview that when he was at university he was horrified that the university of melbourne were doing projects with the students which was about improving weapons like making tanks that could drive nice nicely drive over the top of dead bodies and this sort of stuff and you know so that these sort of little things give you a bit of an insight into julian his vision his uh his idea about the world and and and that was the inspiration for creating wikileaks was to you know use technology using to speed up the dissemination of truth to um to give us more access to leaks um so yeah with all that in mind uh and oh one other anecdote is you know when he was in the uh embassy of in london and the big dnc the the diplomatic cables came out and then you know the u.s were determined uh to find out who was the source of this these cables um they were so fired up about that and he refused to give that away you know even though trump did put it on the table at way back then that's about seven years no that's about 14 years ago um 13 years it was on the table that uh he could be pardoned if he just gave up the source of the dnc leak and he didn't do it and he said my principles are not for sale so this is the julian that i know um and so i can't imagine him uh not at some point going back to this mission of um bringing about justice in the world and um either that or he becomes the next prime minister of australia oh man jesus christ one can wish can you imagine he was in politics you know he did dabble in politics uh there was a wikileaks party for i don't know a year or two um back around that time um and you know there was this wonderful video i saw uh once which was julian uh around that that peak time of when when they were so prominent with putting out those big leaks 2011 he spoke you know through a live stream to the big day out festival this massive festival in in australia big music festival you know he had so much popularity at that time because you know he was putting out these these huge drops these truth bombs and um running for the senate in australia before at all everything you know the u.s came down him and started to uh try to destroy his character well everything
Speaker 1you've just described there does not really suggest a man who's likely to spend the rest of his life you know just with his feet up just fucking chilling out you know unless of course you know that's what he wants to do in which case you know nobody would begrudge him like i said another man has fucking done more than enough and and paid the price for it but if you know at some point however long that may take if and when he's ready to come back and do his thing you know in whatever form that may take that would be a beautiful thing because the world needs him now
Speaker 2more than ever yeah well i think um and it's interesting to consider that you know in 2006 when wiki leaks was created an anonymous dropbox that was encrypted that could give complete anonymity to the leaker was an innovation it was an invention encryption had only been you know used by the elite by the powerful um and he made it possible you know to for the serfs and the slaves to have access to this information but you know now it's old hat all the big media outlets have an anonymous dropbox uh but you know julian is an innovator he's brilliant he hasn't lost his brilliance you can see that from many examples uh in over the last year or so you know that witty letter to prince charles or that did you hear the one about how um that australian artist uh that did the portrait for the archibald prize how they how he was able to sketch julian in prison no tell us man that that's a brilliant story which you know because i i've been looking for signs for some time because i'm so concerned about julian's well-being his mental state that i'm looking for any little sign to show that he's still there he's still really clever and so you know there was that really witty funny letter that he wrote to prince charles um and then uh about i don't know two two months or less six weeks ago or something there was um australian portrait artists who wanted to paint him to enter the archibald prize now one of the criteria to enter enter into that competition is you have to sketch your subject in person and so that posed a problem because uh you're not allowed to bring anything into belmarsh prison you can't even bring a pencil and paper and so um julian's brother gabriel was talking to the archibald prize and he said i'm not allowed to bring anything into belmarsh prison this artist and they were trying to figure out how they could sketch him and so you know they came up with this plan so there's a little shop in belmarsh where visitors can buy snacks and lollies and treats so you're allowed to bring money in and you can go to the shop uh and so they kind of this plan that he would use chocolate to sketch julian melted chocolate on a ten dollar bill and so this artist i can't remember the artist's name it might come to me later he this artist he he found out what brands of chocolate they're selling in belmarsh and he experiments to work out which chocolate has the best you know qualities for sketching and then he grows his fingernails nice and long so he can use it like a pencil and then he checks into the prison with a 10 pound note in his pocket so that he can buy the chocolate and be left with a note change to sketch on and then he sits there melted chocolate in one hand and scratches him with his long fingernail using the melted chocolate and guess whose idea all of this was let me guess that was julian so you know when i heard that little anecdote i went yeah you know julian's still all there yeah brilliant he's still clever and i no doubt he's been through some really dark times uh in those situations and he's had to be on medication uh i'm not sure what the medication is for and um you know there's there's a freedom fighter in the uk you might have heard of tommy robinson who was actually in prison with julian um i heard in in a interview with tommy robinson that he felt that julian was losing his mind and we had you know nils melzer and uh palper is another doctor that went and assessed julian under the istanbul protocol a couple of years ago two three years ago to see whether he was a victim of torture and and they did notice that his mind was not uh you know functional as you would expect so whether it was the medication or the isolation or a combination of all that and the stress it was really playing on his mind but it's it's just wonderful to think now that he's he's he's having some peace he can go for a walk on a beach or in the in nature he can uh spend time with his loved ones um and and he can i think hopefully quickly because i think if a human being is in the right conditions uh with support around them you know we we have an amazing ability to recover especially if we have you know missions in life and we're very uh creative and uh aspirational of what we want to do here on on the earth
Speaker 1yeah i think so man i mean i can imagine it's going to take a better time you know you certainly got some readjustment to make i mean that the mental and psychological toll of what he's been through is just unimaginable to me i mean that that's going to take a long time to to to fully recover from if if that's even possible you know yeah but then as you said you know he's clearly made of different stuff you know and that flame i'm sure is still burning deep inside him so who knows man just maybe you know we may see the re-arrival of julian assange back on the world stage doing his thing but if not i'm sure we would all completely fucking
Speaker 2understand yeah if you if you're listening to this julie no pressure at all you know if you want to just come up to byron bay and i'll give you a surfing lesson and we can just relax that's that's okay as well well there you go that sounds pretty good
Speaker 1to me june and if you're listening the offer is out dimmer man right well we've got to talk about your movie dude because i can't keep you all day and that's why we're here right because the trust fall is soon to hit cinemas across the united states and i wanted to ask you obviously the movie is an incredible overview from start to finish of this entire crazy fucking case right for you from the start right up until last year but the problem is there's now been this very recent curveball of the man that the whole documentary is about is now actually fucking free so how is that going to change things for you obviously you're in the middle of a promotional campaign right now for the movie what twist does this add for you now given that your movie is a campaign piece essentially arguing the case brilliantly for the release of julian assange who's now free
Speaker 2yeah well um we're gonna make a little update to it before we get to the end of the movie before we do the digital release which hasn't been set yet it's it's quite a way off i think but but we do plan to just at least update the timeline chapter the little bit that has sort of a summary of of sort of the the whole 15 years uh that has gone past and so you know we'll we'll add a little bit a little conclusion to that to show that he was freed and slightly change the wording of the of the narration especially in the last chapter of the film so you know we sort of got a plan for how to make it we because we want to turn it into a timeless piece that people can watch in you know 500 500 years a thousand years and be horrified you know like a horror movie for the future generations um but you know it's certainly reframed the the film a little bit with well in a big way really with julian free now uh but i i don't think it's lost its relevance because uh people do need to understand this story documentaries are usually they're not usually for campaigns it's been a campaign tool but now it's a story a lesson for people so they can understand what happened what they did to julian why and also uh we can try to prevent it never happening again by building that awareness um but yeah it's a reframed it a little bit you know we're we're still attending some of our screenings around australia and uh it changes the way that i introduced the film and the things that i say and read during uh before the film in my little presentation i do um i had to quickly adapt the way i do interviews because i was so used to talking about like he's you know he's he's captive and he's he's in belmarsh i had to really you know be present and sort of change everything that i'm explaining to talk about you know it's it was really surreal uh the first bunch of interviews i did after is freed because now i'm talking in the past tense when he was in jew in in belmarsh and it's yeah it's it's it's a but it's a it's a pleasant problem to have you know it's it's a good thing um so yeah it's it's it's changed the context of the film um but you know it's important that we keep battling on for this issue because julian is just one of over 500 journalists that are in prison around the world for their work uh david mcbride is an australian whistleblower who is the only journalist who has been in prison for the only person who's been jailed for what australian army did in afghanistan uh the only person jailed is the whistleblower not the ones that committed the war crimes that he exposed uh assange needs needs a pardon and i understand uh you know once uh they you know julian recovers and sort of uh get back to work that um you know they'll be they'll be pushing for that pardon and uh you know and then we got snowden in in exile in in uh where is he japan or something i'm not sure what country he's in um but he needs a pardon as well and and you know this issue of uh press freedom and our rights and uh it it's it's not going to go away anytime soon uh america's still going to be going after journalists and other countries uh just as much if not more and we we're in a world in conflict where there's literally you know these massive gruesome conflicts going on and uh you know most mostly the uh most notably and awful is the the the genocide in gaza and you know that we're just a world in strife that's just the state of the world is horrifying and and you know julian is aware of that because people have written in letters in in while he was in belmarsh you didn't have access to newspapers or the tv or radio even but people wrote him letters and came and visited him and uh and updated him on what was going on and he was i i remember reading a comment from him about his extreme concern for all the journalists i think over 100 journalists have died in in gaza so far um so yeah you know this this story of assange is just really the canary in the coal mine of a horrific uh state of the world
Speaker 1100 that's a great point well made i mean the documentary is amazing dude you've done a such a great job and i hope you're really proud of it i really enjoyed it i've seen it twice and i found it completely unputdownable as they say because it watches like a fucking action thriller you know i mean this case has been going on such a long time now that i'd forgotten a lot of the fuckery that went on and it is such a crazy story which as you rightfully said you know really is the canary in the coal mine for journalists the world over you know the future and present who want to put their head above the parapet and speak truth to power and and keep the rest of us informed about what our governments do in our name and the punishments that you should receive should you do so and you have documented all of that not just julian's personal journey and the scandalous campaign against him but what the state and the powers that be can and will do to anyone who challenges their interests so i really really would recommend everybody to go to the trustfall.org find out where the film is screening near you and go and watch it while you can because not only is it a really really important film on so many levels as well as being a much needed reminder about exactly what went down with julian assange but it's just a great fucking watch as well it's so well put together man and you know props to you and much respect to you for uh you know all the work and efforts and time and resources that i know must have gone into it so i hope you're really proud of it man because it is a really
Speaker 2massive achievement oh thank you so much for your kind words james i'm really glad that it resonated with you i'm a bit concerned you said you enjoyed it i thought it was an awful thing to watch but i know what you mean yeah you know uh it's a tragic shocking film the last chapter we attempt to uh inspire people and give us some motivation you know that's one thing now knowing that people you know people are going to watch it knowing that he did get free and so you know it's no longer a free assange it's a we did free assange uh but you know i i want to say to people like you know we freed him but we also we are also responsible for what happened to him i i feel it sounds like a contentious thing to say but you know like for myself i was so late to this to just even understanding what this was about and when i did understand i i felt like i had to do something um but i've been very aware that i took you know nearly a decade to have any involvement at all uh and you know and and that's ultimately why this goes on we can't blame governments or the law uh we you know we have to look at ourselves and we have to look at well this happened on our watch um and you know we have to prevent it from happening again and uh in order to understand the future we have to understand the past
Speaker 1100 bang on man and how the hell then does one get roger waters to feature in their movie man
Speaker 2do tell that was hard you know we had a wish list of celebrity voices um some of them knocked us back and uh roger waters he's so passionate about julian um you know he's such a great campaigner and uh but i i must have tried for about six months trying to find some contact for him i just you know these people of course they don't put their email up on a website or anything uh finally it was you know i just i kept persevering and um it was nils melzer who was the special rapporteur on torture and he wrote the brilliant book the trial of julian assange uh you know i just i was quite in contact with nils through the film because we had an animated uh extract of his book in the film and it was i was just chatting with him one day and uh complaining that i'm having trouble reaching some of these people we'd like to narrate and he said oh oh i've got roger's phone number i'll text him for you and you know and literally three minutes later i had an email from roger yeah nils said you want a narrator happy to do it no way yeah that's nuts you know it's who if you find the right person um it came about and look it was lovely that you know most of the narrators donated their time and uh they were so willing to help and um you know these talented well-known people that were behind assange see there's another example i had to say where that's where you have to adjust um you know they were he had so much support from from everywhere and uh and that's just testament to uh his incredible achievements
Speaker 1yeah man 100 well what is next for you then sir because i'm guessing you're going to be neck deep in this one for for the foreseeable future but do you even have any plans beyond this now is there another project in the pipeline do you have any ideas as to what the next project might be beyond this one or is this documentary going to dominate and i'm pretty sure it probably
Speaker 2the uh the foreseeable future for you uh yeah we're i think we're going to be busy doing publicity to support the rest of the theatrical release the film hasn't been in cinemas in us canada or europe yet and let alone other countries um it's done you know it's had a lot of uh success with in cinema which is a rare for a documentary it's the it's the most watched australian documentary of the year so far and so we want to keep pushing it out through the cinema we want to rush into the digital space um but you know once it goes out to digital uh i think it's at that point after over three years i'll be able to and talia and i will be able to finally have a break we've only had one week off in this whole time and um i'll probably you know i'm not actually a career filmmaker this is my first documentary it might be the only one i make it was uh no not not only i mean i enjoyed it and it certainly stretched me in in many directions and i think it was a very um satisfying to do and to to to produce but um my my main uh passion is actually music like yourself i'm yeah i i've been a singer songwriter i've been a classical violinist before that and my instruments have gathered dust over this whole time i dropped everything to to sort of go into bat for julian and um so you know hopefully i can get back to my main passion um quite soon
Speaker 1that is fucking crazy dude this is your first documentary i mean that i did not know i mean this looks like the work of a seasoned professional movie maker so props to you brother and you clearly have a talent for it so i hope that um you know you'll have the desire to make some more movies in the future should you want to you know and what you've done with this movie is a very very important piece of the campaign and the and the telling of the story of this crazy moment in i think it's going to stand the test of time as a documentary piece so much respect to you again for putting it together it's a brilliant work and uh yeah but i hear you man you probably want to get back to uh making some music doing what you love most and what you know you do best and after everything you've done to help this campaign i think you've earned it bro and you deserve it if you're ever over in south wales then uh let's have a jam and make some noise together man
Speaker 2yeah for sure for sure um yeah thank you very much and um yeah look at i i was happy to to put things aside because this is so important and um yeah you know just to to make some difference in this campaign uh wonderful that julian's free and um yeah look forward to getting back to my music love to have a jam with you sometime um good luck with your music and and good on you for you know adding time taking time out of your music to to be part of this campaign as well especially with you you've got a platform you you're a great help with sharing the film in our uk release recently and and um thanks for taking the time and putting the effort into this uh this successful campaign where we got julian free no thank you so much brother i
Speaker 1appreciate that and you know of course you know we're all happy to do it and i think we've all got cause to celebrate bro you know this is a real a real massive win i think for people on the right side of history who would have thought julian assange is free so huge props to you brother for everything you've done if anyone wants to go and check out the movie they really really should please go to the trustful.org and find your local screening you can also follow kim on his socials we can get updates on the movie at the trustful doc on twitter and instagram kim thank you so much for taking time out to speak with us today it's been a fascinating and insightful conversation and thanks again for everything you've done to support this cause and make such an incredible piece of movie making it really has been such an invaluable contribution i wish you nothing but success with it and all the best moving forward with your music and everything else that you do in the future i'm excited to uh to follow what comes next likewise i enjoyed
Speaker 2the discussion thanks for the coverage thanks for your advocacy and uh good luck with everything
Speaker 1you're a gentleman thank you kim speak to you soon brother take care man take care see you bro cheers mate ladies and gentlemen boys and girls put it together for mr kim statten creator of the trustful documentary which all of you need to rush out right away and watch if you know what is good for you one more plug it is at the trustful.org website where you can check out all of the screenings near you and you can also get more info on kim's socials on twitter and instagram at the trustful doc so get over there and go and show kim some love and i just want to take a second to let this properly sink in julian assange is a free man right now he's free it hasn't really sunk in the the weight of what that actually means you know we don't get a lot of good news these days you know with the horrific genocide happening in gaza the endless streams of blood and blood and blood and blood and blood and blood and blood and of bad news from my useless corrupt politicians the cost of living crisis inflation yada yada yada you don't need me to tell you right so we need to celebrate and acknowledge our wins when they happen because they don't happen that often and this one is a biggie i remember julian's wife stella told me that this is not a legal battle this is a political and a cultural battle she told me that this is going to be won by people all around the world making lots and lots of noise about it so this is a win that should be celebrated by every single person that got involved with this campaign and amplified the cause and made noise about it and it just goes to show that when we do that we can win this is a case of one man against the entire american empire and here he is as of now walking around his homeland in the sunshine with his wife and kids a free man so take stock people change can happen good news can happen i hope you enjoyed the conversation with kim i certainly did and if you want to hear more of these conversations with amazing guests every week you're welcome to do so and i'll see you in the next one bye you know what you gotta do you gotta subscribe to the goddamn podcast please give me a follow or a subscription or whatever you gotta do on whatever platform you listen to this thing on if you're on youtube you know leave a comment let me know what you think and if you give me a star rating or review on apple or spotify or wherever else it would really really help this shit don't cost you any money to listen to and it would really really help me out if you could just get clicking those buttons so that i can keep doing this thing in the meantime you know what i'm going to say because i say it every single week take care of yourselves please take care of each other and i will see you next time have a great week guys
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