Synopsis
From the producer of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Who Killed the Electric Car? comes a documentary that takes a critical look at the Bush administration's policy on torture by investigating the death of an Afghan taxi driver who, after being taken into the custody of American soldiers at Bagram Air Force base, suffered fatal injuries at the hands of U.S. soldiers. In 2002, American soldiers accused an Afghan taxi driver of taking part in a deadly rocket attack. Five days after being handed over to the US military for questioning, the man was found dead - the victim of a brutal bout of torture and abuse according to the medical examiner who inspected his body. According to the examiner, the taxi driver's hands had been bound to the ceiling, forcing him to stand for hours on end as his assailants repeatedly - and relentlessly - kicked him. Compelled to finally unearth the truth about the mysterious fate of the deceased taxi driver, filmmaker Alex Gibney takes viewers on an illuminating journey from a tiny Afghani village to Guantanamo Bay, to Abu Ghriab, and ultimately the White House to explore why the man who turned up in the morgue wasn't the only victim to fall prey to the Bush administration's controversial foreign policy. By examining the sad fate of the wrongly accused, the toll that the War on Terror has taken on an exhausted United States military, and Justice Department Official John Yoo's internal memo concerning interrogation techniques, the filmmakers behind Taxi to the Dark Side encourage viewers to weigh out the issues for themselves, and never accept what's told to them on face value. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Year: 2008
Runtime: 106
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: R
for disturbing images, and content involving torture and graphic nudity
Category: Documentary
Produced by
Jigsaw Productions
THINKFilm
X-Ray Productions
Release
January 18, 2008 (USA - Limited)
Awards
2007 - Best Documentary Feature - Tribeca Film Festival
2007 - Best Documentary Feature (World Documentary Feature Competition) - Tribeca Film Festival
2007 - Best Documentary - National Board of Review
2007 - IDA Feature Documentary Award - International Documentary Association
2007 - Film Presented - Silverdocs Film Festival
2007 - Film Presented - San Francisco Documentary Film Festival
2007 - Film Presented - Chicago International Film Festival
2007 - Film Presented - Vancouver International Film Festival
2008 - Film Presented - Palm Springs International Film Festiva