The Saga of Bradley Manning in 8-Bit Video

When you see pixels used in animations, it's usually quite frivolous and fun, giving a knowing nod to fondly remembered video games and their 8-bit heritage. But this animated short from Adam Butcher uses the beloved stripped-down pixel to tell a somber tale in Bradley Manning Had Secrets, a short film commissioned by UK-based Animate Projects.

The film tells the story of Bradley Manning—the whistleblower who leaked US diplomatic files to Wikileaks and is now facing prosecution—and his online discussions with Adrian Lamo, the ex-hacker who turned him in to the FBI. Lamo was Manning's correspondent and confidante and in their chat conversations, Manning candidly revealed his activities and his personal issues to Lamo, all material that would later come to be used against him. -Kevin Holmes

Originally published on our sister blog, The Creators Project

• From Bradley Manning’s Facebook Page: Adam Savage’s Lecture on Failure
• Bradley Manning’s Family Leaks His Troubled Life, Before Wikileaks
• The Unfortunate Case of Bradley Manning
• The U.S. Can’t Link Manning to Assange
• The Wikileaks Motherboard