When I read about radical movements like these, one of the first things I think about is how much involvement there is from people of color, especially black people, since that's the group we're most interested in here, and given that its subject matter is one that I think speaks to a recognizable history of struggle/fight against authority/oppression, as well as revolution, in a fight for rights – a history (and still very much a present) that black people all over the world will be intimately familiar with. 

Award-winning documentary We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists provides a penetrating look into the makings of the group responsible for mass digital protests around the world.

Directed by Brian Knappenberger, the documentary takes audiences inside the world of “Anonymous”, the radical “hacktivist” collective that has redefined civil disobedience from Sony to the Arab Spring for the digital age. The film puts a human face on, and explores the historical roots of early hacktivist groups, to the birth of “Anonymous,” from its 4chan beginnings to a full-blown movement with a global reach, and one of the most transformative events of our time.

The documentary gets personal and really digs deep, which I'd say is one aspect of it that separates it from most other features about the group. And the group's influence continues to grow, leading Time magazine to declare Anonymous one of 2012's most influential people in the world.

We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists opens exclusively for one week only in Los Angeles (Laemmle's Pasadena Playhouse 7) and New York (The Quad Cinema) on October 19. It'll expand to other cities throughout the rest of 2012, and will be available on VOD on October 30.

Watch the trailer for the film below: