ACLU Hosts "The Road to Guantánamo" Screening
Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, Michael
Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross' "The Road to Guantánamo" is the terrifying
first-hand account of three British citizens who were held for two years without
charges in the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Known
as the "Tipton Three," in reference to their hometown in Britain, the three
were eventually returned to Britain and released, still having had no formal
charges ever made against them at any time during their ordeal. The film
has engendered significant controversy due to its critical stance towards the
American and British governments. Roadside Attractions will release the film
in select U.S. cities on June 23, 2006 and roll it out nationally over the
summer.
The ACLU hosted a special screening of the film in NYC on June 22, 2006
for an invited audience of leaders in politics, law, academia, media and entertainment -- people
who are in a position to spread the importance of this film and the issues
behind it to community members across their respective fields, across the country.
The screening was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A on the film
and the real, pressing issues of torture and detention it addresses with director,
Michael Winterbottom, Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, Steven
Watt of the ACLU, Gitanjali Gutierrez of CCR, and the "Tipton Three" live via
video. The post-screening panel, with participants both onstage in the theater
and live on-screen from England, was presented through IFC Center's iQ&A
program, a series of discussions that brings international filmmakers and New
York audiences together through the internet and Apple iChat AV videoconferencing
software.
Our hope is that the audiences of "The Road to Guantánamo" will be
stirred to learn more about the human rights abuses at Guantánamo and
other U.S. run detention facilities, and compelled to take action. To learn
more about the challenge to U.S.-sponsored torture and abuse and to read government
documents released to the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act, go to: www.aclu.org/torture
For more information on "The Road to Guantánamo," visit the official
site of the film at www.roadtoguantanamomovie.com
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