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"Standard
Operating Procedure" Goes Behind the Photos
from Abu Ghraib
"Standard Operating Procedure"
is a documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker and card-carrying
ACLU member, Errol Morris about 12 photographs that distill the abuse
and torture that took place at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The film
features interviews with the Army personnel who took the pictures or,
in some cases, are in the pictures. "Standard Operating Procedure"
explores how the soldiers at Abu Ghraib were scapegoated as
“a few bad apples” to cover up the torture policies
that were authorized at the highest levels of the Bush administration.
The ACLU has allied with Participant Media in
their social action campaign around "Standard Operating Procedure."
Errol Morris spoke with Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU’s
National Security Project, about the film and how the photos
and documents the ACLU helped release through the Freedom of
Information Act together tell a pretty damning story of the
administration's abuses of power at every level. Resources for the
social action campaign including a downloadable discussion guide and
links to more information about
our work in this area can be found at www.takepart.com/sop.
"Standard Operating Procedure" opens on Friday, April 25th in New York,
May 5 in Los Angeles, and will expand nationwide through the summer.
DISCUSSION
GUIDE
Host a "Movie and a Conversation" for
"Standard Operating Procedure." As part of the social action campaign
for
the film, Participant Media is setting up a special conference call for
ACLU and other allied NGO participants with filmmaker Errol Morris in
June. Details in
the guide at www.takepart.com/sop. |
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Director Errol Morris received an Academy Award
for his 2004 film "The Fog of War," a profile of Robert S. McNamara,
Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. Morris's controversial
1988 film, "The Thin Blue Line" explored the conviction of Randall Dale
Adams for the 1976 murder of a Dallas police officer. After the film's
release, Adams' conviction was overturned, and he was released from
prison. "Standard Operating Procedure" is Morris's eighth film.
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