In a world saturated with disinformation, Cover-Up pulls us into the uncompromising ethos of one of journalism’s most legendary truth-tellers: Seymour Hersh. From exposing the My Lai massacre to unraveling CIA abuses and Abu Ghraib atrocities, Hersh has spent decades dragging concealed histories into the light — often at great personal and political cost. In this gripping portrait, Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) and Emmy-winning Frontline-producer Mark Obenhaus trace Hersh’s singular process with intimacy, skepticism, and bite. “I barely trust you guys,” Hersh quips, establishing a candid and often thorny dynamic between subject and directors.
Cover-Up is a layered meditation on source protection, moral clarity, and the imperative to report when it’s needed most, with the film mirroring Hersh’s own rigor — never comfortable, always urgent. Crucially, the film’s story bridges past and present: Hersh is still reporting, still outraging the powerful, now turning his unflinching gaze toward Gaza. Cover-Up isn’t a retrospective, it’s a dispatch from a frontline that never pulled back.
Media Partner
Community Partner
Laura Poitras & Mark Obenhaus
Seymour Hersh
USA
2025
English
Graphic violence
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Executive Producer
Thomas MacWhirr, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Josh Braun, Nick Shumaker
Producer
Yoni Golijov, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Olivia Streisand
Cinematography
Mia Cioffi Henry
Editor
Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Laura Poitras
Original Music
Maya Shenfeld
Insights
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Image: © The New York Times
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