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Deep Dive: Cover-Up (2025)

Film Lens

Cover-Up
Cover-Up is a 2025 documentary directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, focusing on the career of journalist Seymour Hersh. The film provides access to Hersh's work, including his reporting on the My Lai massacre and the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. It features archival audio, including White House tapes of Richard Nixon discussing Hersh with Henry Kissinger, and addresses various U.S. war crimes and scandals. The documentary was conceived in 2004, but production began later when Hersh agreed to collaborate with Poitras and Obenhaus. They gained access to over 7,000 assets from Hersh's archive. The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was later released theatrically in the U.S. and on Netflix. It has received critical acclaim, with a 98% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Why Watch

  • Meet Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
  • See archival audio of Nixon discussing Hersh.
  • Find out about U.S. war crimes in Vietnam and Iraq.

Did You Know

The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2025.
Seymour Hersh won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the My Lai massacre.
The documentary includes over 7,000 archival assets from Hersh's career.
It received an 86 out of 100 score on Metacritic based on 19 critics.

Perfect For

Investigative journalismVietnam War historyIraq War insights