Oscar Movie Preview: Taxi to the Dark Side for Best Documentary
As part of my coverage of this year's Oscars, I'll be posting the trailers for as many of the Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film nominees as I can find. Since it's often harder to see these films in theaters, it's nice to at least get a taste of them before Oscar night — not to mention that it might help you when you fill out your Oscar ballot.
Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney made his mark on the film world in 2005 with Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, an Oscar-nominated film about the sordid rise and fall of the energy giant. A couple of years later, Gibney has returned with another film about a different kind of corruption. Taxi to the Dark Side focuses on interrogation, torture, and abuse seemingly condoned by the US government as a part of the war on terror.
As with Enron, where Gibney started with a book about the scandal, this movie has its roots in a New York Times article about an Afghan taxi driver beaten to death while in military custody. That story — and its subsequent coverup — open a window into larger questions of power, abuse, and winning by any means necessary.
The movie is currently playing in a number of theaters around the country. Have any of you checked it out? To watch the trailer, just read more.
