The sad tale of a programming prodigy and free speech activist is told in the critically acclaimed documentary, The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, which is available on DVD from Alive Mind Cinema and Kino Lorber. Brian Knappenberger’s film traces the life of Swartz, who co-founded the Web site Reddit, and went on to crusade for open access to the Internet. Swartz was prosecuted for illegally downloading documents, and committed suicide, in January 2013, as his criminal trial neared. The film “delivers a touching, morally outraged portrait that, in memory of Swartz, may inspire people to ask hard questions about how the new world is being shaped away from view, behind closed doors,” wrote Simon Houpt in The Globe and Mail. — Mordecai Specktor
(American Jewish World, 3.13.15)
