Alex Gibney's "Taxi to the Dark Side" Really a Critique of Bush's "War on Democracy"
In my hats both at The Washington Note and TPM Cafe, I am sponsoring a Washington, DC preview screening of Alex Gibney's powerful new film, Taxi to the Dark Side.
The film already has a Gotham Award Nomination as best documentary and won the Best Documentary Prize at the Chicago Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, and the Tribeca Film Festival.
I've seen it -- and it's a devastating chronicle of the Bush administration's Darkness at Noon-style kidnapping, detainment, and torture practices that have been less part of a so-called 'war on terror' than a 'war on America's own democratic principles.'
Film critic Roger Ebert agrees and said, "Highly recommended. A devastating documentary laying out in precise detail the Bush administration's use of illegal detainment, torture and death in prison camps that exist outside the U.S. Constitution."
That Wednesday evening (December 5th), Oscar-nominated film director and occasional reader of this blog, Alex Gibney, will join the event -- as will former State Department Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson, journalist and Taxi to the Dark Side executive producer Sidney Blumenthal, FBI Special Agent Jack Cloonan, and Bagram prison guard Damien Corsetti.
This event is NOT open to the public -- but I will make available a certain number of tickets to TWN and TPM Cafe readers -- but folks have to email me directly with appropriate affiliation if any, and I can only provide two tickets per request. I have an allotment set aside -- and when we max out, please understand that I can't exceed the limit.
I need all guests' contact information, preferably phone and email address -- and if people fail to show to the event without notifying me, they will not be welcome at any similar functions in the future. You will be blocking someone from attending if you go, and it's just really bad form not to show up after committing.
My email address is steve@thewashingtonnote.com.
The event is Wednesday, 5 December 2007 at 7:00 pm. Discussion at 8:45 pm.
The venue will be disclosed at a later time. Guests will be expected to stay for the discussion.
-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note
For those of us too far to consider making this event, might I plead that you record it and make the discussion available by any one of the Internet friendly media formats? IF it would be most appropriate to do this after general release, that's quite fine by me.
aMike
December 1, 2007 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink