Taxi to the Dark Side
Encyclopedia
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 Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the murder of an Afghan
taxi
driver named Dilawar, beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention
at the Bagram Air Base
.
Taxi to the Dark Side examines the USA's policy on torture
and interrogation in general, specifically the CIA's use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation
. The film includes opposition to the use of torture from its political and military opponents, as well as the defense of such methods; attempts by Congress to uphold the standards of the Geneva Convention
forbidding torture; and popularization of the use of torture techniques in shows such as 24
.
It is part of the Why Democracy?
series, which 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 over 30 different countries around the world from October 8–18, 2007. The BBC cut the film to 79 minutes for broadcast.
magazine named it the fifth best film of 2008, and Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
named it the seventh best film of 2008. The film also scored 100% for critic approval, out of 80 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the third highest-rated film in the website's history.
It was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist in November 2007. On February 24, 2008, in his acceptance speech for the "Best Documentary Feature" Academy Award, Gibney said:
bought the rights to broadcast Taxi to the Dark Side. However, in February 2008, it made public its intention never to broadcast the documentary due to its controversial nature. 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.
In June 2008, Gibney's company filed for arbitration, arguing that THINKFilm
failed to properly distribute and promote the film. He is suing for over a million dollars in damages. Gibney stated that the film has only grossed $280,000.
Alex Gibney
Alex Gibney is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, Esquire magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time."...
, and produced by Eva Orner
Eva Orner
Eva Orner is an Australian film producer. Her works include Untold Desires , Strange Fits of Passion Eva Orner (born 1969) is an Australian film producer. Her works include Untold Desires (winner of Best Documentary at the Australian Film Institute Awards, the Logie Awards and the Australian Human...
and Susannah Shipman, which won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the murder of an Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
driver named Dilawar, beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
at the Bagram Air Base
Bagram Air Base
Bagram Airfield, also referred to as Bagram Air Base, is a militarized airport and housing complex that is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, southeast of Charikar in Parwan province of Afghanistan. The base is run by a US Army division headed by a major general. A large part of the base,...
.
Taxi to the Dark Side examines the USA's policy on torture
Torture and the United States
Torture in the United States includes documented and alleged cases of torture both inside the United States and outside its borders by U.S. government personnel...
and interrogation in general, specifically the CIA's use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
. The film includes opposition to the use of torture from its political and military opponents, as well as the defense of such methods; attempts by Congress to uphold the standards of the Geneva Convention
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
forbidding torture; and popularization of the use of torture techniques in shows such as 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
.
It is part of the Why Democracy?
Why Democracy?
Why Democracy? is a documentary film series produced by Steps International. The series consists of 10 films depicting independent documentary filmmakers personal perception of and experience with democracy, and was broadcast by 42 different broadcasters worldwide between the 8th and the 18th of...
series, which 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 over 30 different countries around the world from October 8–18, 2007. The BBC cut the film to 79 minutes for broadcast.
Reception and awards
Taxi to the Dark Side appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. PremierePremiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
magazine named it the fifth best film of 2008, and Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
named it the seventh best film of 2008. The film also scored 100% for critic approval, out of 80 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the third highest-rated film in the website's history.
It was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist in November 2007. On February 24, 2008, in his acceptance speech for the "Best Documentary Feature" Academy Award, Gibney said:
Controversies and legal disputes
In June 2007, the Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
bought the rights to broadcast Taxi to the Dark Side. However, in February 2008, it made public its intention never to broadcast the documentary due to its controversial nature. 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.
In June 2008, Gibney's company filed for arbitration, arguing that THINKFilm
THINKFilm
THINKFilm is a privately held production and distribution company founded in September 2001. It has been a division of David Bergstein’s Capitol Films since 2006. Bergstein also serves as the company’s chairman...
failed to properly distribute and promote the film. He is suing for over a million dollars in damages. Gibney stated that the film has only grossed $280,000.
See also
- Standard Operating ProcedureStandard Operating Procedure (film)Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 documentary film which explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public...
(2008 film) - Torturing DemocracyTorturing DemocracyTorturing Democracy is a 2008 documentary film produced by Washington Media Associates and narrated by Peter Coyote. The film details the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding, by the Bush administration in the "War on Terror". The documentary includes interviews from...
(2008 film) - Jan BazJan BazJan Baz Khan is a citizen of Afghanistan who allegedly turned over innocent men to American troops in the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.One of the detainees who were beaten to death at Bagram was a taxi driver named Dilawar....
- Moazzam BeggMoazzam BeggMoazzam Begg , is a British Pakistani Muslim who was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, by the U.S...
- Mohammed al-Qahtani – Guantanamo detainee discussed in the film
- Ibn al-Shaykh al-LibiIbn al-Shaykh al-LibiIbn al-Shaykh al-Libi was a Libyan paramilitary trainer for Al-Qaeda. After being captured and interrogated by the American and Egyptian forces, the information he gave under torture by Egyptian authorities was cited by the George W. Bush Administration in the months preceding the 2003 invasion of...
- Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuseAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuseBeginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...
- Extraordinary rendition by the United States
- U.S. Army and CIA interrogation manuals
- Torture and the United StatesTorture and the United StatesTorture in the United States includes documented and alleged cases of torture both inside the United States and outside its borders by U.S. government personnel...
- Christopher Beiring
- Canadian Afghan detainee abuse scandalCanadian Afghan detainee abuse scandalThe Canadian Afghan detainee issue concerns whether or not the Government of Canada and/or the Canadian Forces had knowledge about alleged abusive treatment of detainees in Afghanistan...
- Bagram torture and prisoner abuseBagram torture and prisoner abuseIn 2005, The New York Times obtained a 2,000-page United States Army report concerning the homicides of two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners by U.S. armed forces in 2002 at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Bagram, Afghanistan. The prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar, were chained to the...
External links
- Taxi To The Dark Side BBC Full Length Documentary
- Washington Post - Down a Dark Road by Richard Leiby
- BBC News - Torture film wins Tribeca award
- Variety review by Jay Weissberg
- Interview with Taxi to the Dark Side director Alex Gibney at Filmmaker MagazineFilmmaker MagazineFilmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis...
- Pullquote review
- The Why Democracy? homepage