Venice (AFP) – Seymour Hersh, one of the most influential American journalists of the past sixty years, is the subject of a documentary that explores his achievements and mistakes, screened out of competition at the 82nd Venice Film Festival.

The film “Cover-Up,” co-directed by Laura Poitras, who won the Golden Lion in 2022 for her documentary on the opioid crisis, reflects the charm of the 88-year-old Hersh’s personality as well as his emotional nature.

The former reporter for the Associated Press, The New York Times, and The New Yorker magazine is featured in this nearly two-hour film, which covers his reports on atrocities committed by the U.S. military in Vietnam and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004.

The film suggests that some arrogance made him a controversial figure among his peers and may have been the source of some mistakes that have recently tarnished his reputation.

Laura Poitras, who had aspired for twenty years to make a film about Seymour Hersh, said the story of the famous journalist provides “a historical glimpse of half a century of abuse of power in the United States.”

The investigative journalist continues his work to this day, publishing much of his work on the blogging platform Substack.

However, the media ignored, for example, a recent scoop he broke: President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, reflecting a loss of his credibility.

“Cover-Up” briefly addresses his articles that cast doubt on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his people, and his claims of U.S. responsibility for the 2022 explosion of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

United Nations investigations, along with other media inquiries, have disproved both claims.

Seymour Hersh admits to making mistakes but defends his use of unnamed sources and single sources.

He is currently focused on monitoring the performance of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Friday, Hersh said, “This is a man who wants to stay here for life… I think that’s his only mission. He doesn’t want new elections.” He added, “I don’t have access to him, but I’m working on it.”