Taxi to the Dark Side

Infobox Film
name = Taxi to the Dark Side


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Alex Gibney
producer = Alex Gibney, Eva Orner, Susannah Shipman
executive producers = Sidney Blumenthal, Jedd Wider, Todd Wider
writer = Alex Gibney
starring = Karyn Plonsky, Moazzam Begg, Willie Brand, Jack Cloonan, Damien M. Corsetti, Ken Davis, Carlotta Gall, Tim Golden, Tony Lagouranis, Carl Levin, Alfred W. McCoy, Alberto J. Mora, Anthony Morden, Glendale C. Walls, Lawrence Wilkerson, Tim Wilner, John Yoo
music = Ivor Guest, Robert Logan
cinematography =
editing = Sloane Klevin
distributor = THINKFilm
released = April 30 2007
runtime = 106 min.
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0854678

"Taxi to the Dark Side" is a 2007 documentary film directed by American filmmaker Alex Gibney, and produced by Eva Orner and Susannah Shipman, which won the 2007 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.cite web
url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854678/
title=Taxi to the Dark Side: Combined details
publisher=Internet Movie Database
accessdate=May 3
accessyear=2007]

The film focuses on the murder in custody of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar.cite news
url=http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20070507&s=griswold050707
title=The other Guantánamo. Black Hole
publisher=The New Republic
author=Eliza Griswold
date=May 2 2007
accessdate=2007-05-03] Dilawar was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention at the Bagram Air Base.

"Taxi to the Dark Side" also goes on to examine America's policy on torture and interrogation in general, specifically the CIA's use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation. There is description of the opposition to the use of torture from its political and military opponents, as well as the defence of such methods; the attempts by Congress to uphold the standards of the Geneva Convention forbidding torture; and the popularisation of the use of torture techniques in shows such as "24".

The film is said to be the first film to contain images taken within Bagram Air Base.

Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival

On April 28, 2007, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.cite news
url=http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117763344614784224-ZST8nVC26dwAj_vVsm__o7CjVdg_20080429.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
title=Director Explores 'Dark Side' Of U.S. Treatment of Detainees
author=Beckey Bright
date=April 28, 2007
publisher=Wall Street Journal
accessdate=2007-05-05]

In an interview with Beckey Bright of the "Wall Street Journal" Gibney was asked about the demoralizing effect his film might have on the American GIs::

Academy Award

In November 2007, "Taxi to the Dark Side" was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist. cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/nominees/index.html |title=80th Annual Academy Awards Nominees |accessdate=2008-01-22 |date=2008-01-22 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ] [cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i587be3b0ca27043557eff60b69803664 | title=Shortlist for docu Oscar unveiled |accessdate=2007-12-21|date=2007-11-20|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter] On February 24, 2008, in his acceptance speech for the "Best Documentary Feature" Academy Award, Alex Gibney said:

"Why Democracy?"

"Taxi to the Dark Side" is part of the "Why Democracy?" series. The series consists of ten documentary films from around the world questioning and examining contemporary democracy. As part of the series "Taxi to the Dark Side" was broadcast in no fewer than 35 different countries around the world between the 8^th and 18^th of October 2007. The BBC cut their broadcast down to 79 minutes.

Discovery Channel controversy

In June 2007, the Discovery Channel bought the rights to broadcast "Taxi to the Dark Side". However, in February 2008, they made public their intention never to broadcast the documentary due to its controversial nature. ["Democracy Now!" [http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/12/discovery_channel_accused_of_political_censorship 12 Feb 2008 transcript] , retrieved on 12 Feb 2008.] HBO then bought rights to the film and announced that it would be broadcast in September 2008, after which the Discovery Channel announced it would broadcast "Taxi to the Dark Side" in 2009. Many pundits and bloggers derided the decision, claiming that the Discovery Channel did not wish to risk Gibney criticizing the network at the Academy Awards should his movie win the Best Documentary Oscar, and also pointed out that the Discovery Channel's projected 2009 broadcast date would occur after President George W. Bush left office.Fact|date=May 2008

uing film distributors

On June 19, 2008, Alex Gibney's company filed for arbitration, arguing that THINKFilm failed to properly distribute and promote the film.cite news
url=http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSN26483143
title=US documentary maker seeks damages over Oscar film
page=
pages=
publisher=Reuters
author=Christine Kearney
date=2008-06-26
accessdate=2008-06-26
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/movies/26thin.html
title=Filmmaker Says Distributor Failed Him
publisher=The New York Times
author=Charles Lyons
date=June 26 2008
accessdate=2008-07-21] He is suing for over a million dollars in damages.He stated that the film has only grossed $280,000.

ee also

*Jan Baz
*Firebase Salerno
*Moazzam Begg
*Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
*Extraordinary rendition by the United States
*KUBARK
*Torture and the United States
*List of documentaries
*Human rights

References

External links

* [http://www.taxitothedarksidefilm.com Film Web Site]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6623791.stm BBC News - Torture film wins Tribeca award] 040507
* [http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/26/taxi-to-the-dark-side/ Crooks and Liars.com movie trailer]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/26/AR2007042601569.html Washington Post - Down a Dark Road] by Richard Leiby 27/04/07
* [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933528.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 Variety review by Jay Weissberg]
* [http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/winter2008/taxi.php interview with 'Taxi to the Dark Side" director Alex Gibney] at Filmmaker Magazine
* [http://pullquote.typepad.com/pullquote/2007/05/ffdff_taxi_to_t.html Pullquote review]
* [http://www.whydemocracy.net The Why Democracy? homepage]

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