TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE (2007)
Directed by Alex Gibney
106 minutes
In English

This is a shocking documentary by Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) about the United States government\'s interrogation practices during the \"war on terror\". One major sub-plot of the film is the story of Dilawar, an Afghan taxi driver who was held in Bagram, a US detention center for suspected terrorists. After 2 days of torture he was dead. However, the film explains how Dilawar was actually an innocent man turned in by the actual criminal seeking to throw investigators off his trail. One expert explains how only about 1% of the detainees are actual terrorists and that the vast majority were not even arrested by the US military....but rather were turned in by Pakistani and Afghan bounty hunters seeking financial compensation.

The numerous forms of abuse and torture inflicted on these foreign detainees is depicted in gruesome detail.
The methods of torture included not only water boarding but also various means of sexual humiliation. The ultimate goal was inflicting a complete mental, physical and emotional breakdown on the prisoners. Other tactics used were sleep deprivation achieved by handcuffing detainees to the ceiling for days at a time and the sort of physical beatings that led to the death of Dilawar.

The situation at Bagram is just the starting point. The film goes on to show that the program at Bagram was deemed such a success that it served as the model for Abu Graibh the following year in Iraq, and both prisons became pipelines to the detainee facility at Guantánamo, Cuba.

There are very few films about these detention centers and this one is simply devastating...a real stunner.

THE NEW ANITA
Frederik Hendrikstraat 111 (Hugo de Grootplein)
January 18
Doors open at 19:30
The film starts at 20:30 sharp

Location
Frederik Hendrikstraat 111 Amsterdam



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