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SALEMAs WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's father told a crowd at Cinema Salem Thursday night, there is no free America without a free press.

The 2021 film "Ithaka" was created by Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton, and focused on Assange's story through the eyes of his father, John Shipton, and wife, Stella Assange. It was shown at Cinema Salem on opening night of the 2023 Salem Film Festival, which runs through April 2.

Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and gained notoriety in 2010 when the outlet leaked hundreds of thousands of documents provided by former U.S. Army Intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

The documents showed that war crimes were committed with the knowledge of the U.S. during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and set off over a decade of intense criticism from the U.S. government toward Assange. The Australian publisher and journalist has since received dozens of journalism awards and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Assange found asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2019, at which time he faced sexual misconduct charges in Sweden, which were later dropped, and extradition to that country and, likely, the U.S. Since April 11, 2019, Assange has been imprisoned in the max security prison H.M Belmarsh in London and faces extradition to the U.S. on 17 counts of espionage.

If found guilty, he could receive a max sentence of 175 years under the Espionage Act of 1917. That act was signed into law by the U.S. government during World War I as a controversial measure to limit criticism of the American government.

While whistleblowers have been sentenced under the act, Assange would be the first journalist it has ever officially punished.

It seems to me and many other commentators that what the United States Department of Justice, in particular, the national security section, have embarked upon, in this matter, with encouragement from other institutions of state, that this is utterly ruinous, John Shipton said at the screening Thursday night.

"Ithaka" explores the danger Assange's possible conviction poses for the free press, and anyone who aims to hold the government accountable for injustice.

If you imagine just for a moment the removal of the First Amendment, then the people of the United States have lost the fundamental guide to the origination of a culture thats now grown up with 250 years, Assanges father said.

The film also documents the emotional toll Assange's ongoing imprisonment has taken on him and his family. As shown in the film, Assange has struggled with severe depression throughout adulthood, which has only gotten worse since hes been in prison, and in October 2021, suffered a stroke in prison.

With the Biden administration still pursuing the extradition that President Donald Trump initially called for, and with the U.S. appealing a British judges decision to not extradite Assange in 2021, his time in prison is far from over.

"I dont think that people who exposed war crimes should go to prison for the rest of their lives, his wife said in the film. The injustice is overwhelming.

The five media organizations that collaborated on the WikiLeaks U.S. war crimes publications include the New York Times, Der Spiegel in Germany, The Guardian in the U.K., El Pas in Spain and Le Monde in France. The outlets published a letter on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war crimes leak calling for the end of Assange's persecution.

While the U.S. is still seeking Assange's extradition, support for Assange has grown over the years across the world, his brother said.

These prestigious media organizations, these corporations, now are concerned of what this prosecution means to their position in our societies. And so they're now coming forward, Gabriel Shipton said Thursday.

His father made that message even clearer in the film.

If he goes down, so will journalism, John Shipton said.

More than 70 documentaries, filmmaker question-and-answer sessions, student film competitions, panel discussions and parties will be held in Salem and Beverly as part of the festivals 16th year.

For more information on the festival, visit http://www.salemfilmfest.com/.

Contact Caroline Enos atCEnos@northofboston.comand follow her on Twitter@CarolineEnos.

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Assange's family speak on threat to 1st Amendment at Salem Film Fest - The Salem News