WikiLeaks film a massive propaganda attack, Assange seethes
But director says he is just trying to inspire debate about information age
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lashed out at a big-budget Hollywood film about his secret-spilling website, calling the movie "a massive propaganda attack".
Speaking to students at Britain's Oxford University by videolink from the Ecuadoran embassy in London, Assange revealed he had acquired a copy of the script for The Fifth Estate, due to be released in November.
"It is a lie upon lie. The movie is a massive propaganda attack on WikiLeaks and the character of my staff," the Australian internet activist told the audience at the university's Oxford Union debating club.
Assange, 41, also blasted the movie for "fanning the flames" of war against Iran by implying that the Islamic republic was working on a nuclear bomb.
Reading from the script, he said the opening scene was set inside a military complex in Iran with documents containing nuclear symbols.
"How does this have anything to do with us?" Assange said from the embassy, where he has been holed up since June after claiming asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sex crimes.
DreamWorks Studios announced this week it had begun shooting the WikiLeaks movie, which stars British actor Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange.