According to CoinDesk, Samourai Wallet, a bitcoin wallet known for its privacy features, has provided financial backing for a documentary about Cody Wilson, an advocate for homemade firearms. The film, titled 'Death Athletic: A Dissident Architecture,' is directed by Jessica Solce and will premiere at private showings in New York and Austin, Texas, with a digital release scheduled for October 21. Samourai Wallet joined the production in 2021, providing funds for post-production alongside another executive producer, Thomas Donnelly.
The documentary follows Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed in Austin, Texas, over seven years, chronicling his legal battles with the U.S. government and 20 state attorneys general for the right to publish files on building weapons using a 3D printer or computer numerical control (CNC) mill. These firearms are often called ghost guns because they can be made without a serial number or registration. The film also covers Wilson's arrest for sexual assault in 2018, his subsequent plea to a different charge and probation sentence, and his resignation and eventual return to Defense Distributed.
Samourai Wallet has made several bitcoin contributions to artists and creatives in the space over the years, but financing 'Death Athletic' is their biggest show of support to date. The company sees parallels between the homemade gun space and the fully sovereign private bitcoin space, as both are strongly stigmatized in the media and require strong individuals to fight against all odds. The documentary will be available through mainstream platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, and Google, as well as an online store that accepts bitcoin and runs on the BTCPay Server merchant software.
