Semperis launches global tour for cyber war documentary

Semperis has launched a global screening tour for its cybersecurity documentary Midnight in the War Room, including an Australian premiere in Sydney.

Billed as a feature-length documentary on cyber war, the film centres on the people responding to attacks on critical systems. It debuted before an audience of security leaders and defenders at Black Hat USA 2026 and is now entering a broader international rollout.

Produced by Semperis Studios and filmed across North America and Europe, the documentary draws on more than 50 interviews and over 100 hours of conversations. Participants include Chris Inglis, the first U.S. National Cyber Director; General David Petraeus, former CIA director; Jen Easterly, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; Marcus Hutchins, cybersecurity researcher; and Tim Brown, former CISO of SolarWinds.

The documentary focuses on incidents affecting infrastructure and essential services, including water and power systems, food supply chains, healthcare networks, and financial institutions. It also examines the pressure on incident responders and security teams dealing with attacks linked to nation-states and ransomware groups.

Global rollout

The screening programme is set to span more than 30 cities and forms the second phase of the film's international release. Cohesity is sponsoring the tour.

Other screening cities include London, Munich, New York, Singapore, Mexico City, and Mumbai. Organisations supporting the roadshow include Women in CyberSecurity, Cyber Future Foundation, Hack The Box, ISC2, ISACA, and InfraGard.

The documentary brings a media project to a sector that has typically communicated through technical briefings, threat reports, and conference presentations. Through a long-form film format, Semperis aims to present cyber incidents through first-hand accounts from the people involved in defence and crisis response.

The approach reflects a wider effort across the cybersecurity industry to frame attacks not only as technical failures or criminal acts, but as operational crises with consequences for public services and institutions. The film is intended to show the experience of defenders on their own terms.

Comments from the production team followed the debut screening.

"We made this film because the people who defend the world's critical systems have never had their story told on their own terms," said Thomas LeDuc, chief marketing officer at Semperis. "Watching it land with a room full of defenders was the whole point. What we heard at the world premiere tells us this conversation is only beginning."

Semperis described itself as the first cybersecurity company to produce a full-length feature film on cyber war. The project places it among a growing group of technology businesses using documentary formats to shape industry narratives and reach audiences beyond technical specialists.

For cybersecurity professionals, the subject matter touches on an increasingly visible part of the industry: incident response during attacks that disrupt operations, threaten data, and raise broader national security concerns. In recent years, boards, regulators, and government agencies have paid closer attention to cyber preparedness as attacks on supply chains, hospitals, and public infrastructure have become more frequent.

The inclusion of former government security officials, private-sector practitioners, and a well-known independent researcher suggests the film is designed to combine policy, operational, and personal perspectives. Marcus Hutchins, known for his role in stopping the WannaCry malware outbreak, brings a figure familiar to many in the security community, while Petraeus, Easterly, and Inglis add experience from the U.S. national security establishment.

The Sydney screening gives Semperis a local platform in a market where cyber resilience has become a board-level issue for major enterprises and public bodies. Australia has faced its own run of high-profile cyber incidents in recent years, prompting greater scrutiny of how organisations prepare for and manage attacks.

The roadshow will visit more than 30 cities as part of the film's world screening tour.