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Indie flicks
'Taxi to the Dark Side' headlines Ybor film fest
By
Steve Persall, Times Film Critic
In print: Thursday, April 17, 2008
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Taxi to the Dark Side, which won the documentary Oscar, examines how far the U.S. military has gone in handling terrorism suspects.
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[Getty Images (2004)]
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Ybor Festival of the Moving Image — The sixth annual cinema showcase pulled off a coup: the first, and possibly only, Tampa Bay area showing of Taxi to the Dark Side, this year's Academy Award-winning documentary. Alex Gibney's film plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hillsborough Community College's Ybor City campus, on the corner of N 14th Street and Palm Avenue. The "dark side" of the title refers to Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that that's where the United States has to work in the war on terrorism. How far we've gone over that line is examined through the horrifying story of an Afghan cab driver named Dilawar who disappeared in 2002 and was discovered dead at an interrogation site for Taliban prisoners. One death certificate read "natural causes." An investigation by New York Times reporters revealed another death certificate citing "homicide" after five days of torture and beatings. The informer who turned in Dilawar for his alleged role in a bombing — and was paid by the United States for the information — turned out to be the bomber. Gibney's previous film, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has much in common with Taxi to the Dark Side: a strategy devised by power players who defy ethics and fair play, then deny any blame. Gibney follows the blood trail from Afghanistan to Guantanamo, scoring shocking confessions from soldiers claiming they followed orders. Taxi to the Dark Side is gruesome at times, with Gibney using graphic images of torture. One wonders: If these are the available, what is still classified? The answer is too depressing to consider. A Steve Persall, Times film critic
>>Fast facts Ybor Festival
of the Moving Image Begins at 7 tonight with an evening of experimental short films flashed on walls around the campus. Salvador Dali Museum curator of education Peter Tush also offers an audio-visual event focused on the artist. Saturday's schedule includes a tribute to filmmaker Charles Burnett, with his historic Killer of Sheep shown at 8:30 p.m. Preceding films Saturday are Bari Pearlman's Daughters of Wisdom (4:30) and the world premiere of Pete and Paul Guzzo's Ghosts of Ybor: Charlie Wall (6:30). Sunday features the Oscar-nominated documentary War/Dance (1:30 p.m.), Burnett's My Brother's Wedding (3) and Tush's film tribute backed by Cuban composer Alfredo Rivero and the HCC Jazz Band. For details, go to www.yborfilmfestival.com.
[Last modified: Apr 16, 2008 04:30 AM]
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