Hong Kong in cinema spotlight in documentary on Edward Snowden

Hong Kong takes centre stage in a new documentary about US whistle-blower Edward Snowden, with dramatic scenes showing the final moments before he is whisked away from his hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui to go into hiding.

Called Citizenfour, the two-hour film was shot in several countries where the Snowden saga has played out, including Moscow, where the 31-year-old is currently living with his long-time girlfriend Lindsay Mills.

Since Snowden exposed mass cybersurveillance carried out in secret by the US and British governments last June, it has been speculated that the couple, who had previously been living together in Hawaii, were no longer together.

But in candid scenes shot in Russia last month, the former National Security Agency contractor and Mills are shown cooking together in an apartment in Moscow.

Ewen MacAskill, one of the reporters who broke the first stories that catapulted Snowden onto the international stage, attended the world premiere on Friday at the New York Film Festival.

"Although I am in it and am biased, I thought it is a brilliant portrait of Snowden, showing him to be serious and with a sense of humour," MacAskill said yesterday, just hours after attending the screening and an after-party, which Snowden's father and other family members also attended.