Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writer (WGA):

Alex Gibney (written by)

Release Date:

23 January 2009 (Brazil)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime | War

Tagline:

In 2002, a young cab driver picked up a few passengers near his home in Afghanistan... He never returned.

Plot:

An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.

Plot Keywords:

Detainee | Afghanistan | Guantanamo Bay | Torture | Taxi

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 9 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Alex Gibney	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brian Keith Allen	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Moazzam Begg	...	Himself - Torture Victim (as Moazzam Beg)
Christopher Beiring	...	Himself - Captain
Willie Brand	...	Himself - Military Police
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Cafferty	...	Himself (archive footage)
Brian Cammack	...	Himself - Military Police
William Cassara	...	Himself - Attorney
Doug Cassel	...	Himself - Professor
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Cloonan	...	Himself - Former FBI Agent
Damien Corsetti	...	Himself - Military Interrogator
Thomas Curtis	...	Himself - Sergeant: Military Police
Greg D'Agostino	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Lynndie England	...	Herself (archive footage)
Tommy Franks	...	Himself - General (archive footage)
Carlotta Gall	...	Herself - New York Times Reporter
John Galligan	...	Himself - Attorney
Frank Gibney	...	Himself (as Frank B. Gibney)
Tim Golden	...	Himself - New York Times Reporter
Alberto Gonzales	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles A. Graner	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gita Gutierrez	...	Herself - Attorney
David Hayden	...	Himself - Colonel (archive footage)
Donald O. Hebb	...	Himself - Behavioral Psychologist
Scott Hennen	...	Himself (archive footage) (voice)
Jay Hood	...	Himself - Brigadier General
Scott Horton	...	Himself - President of the International League for Human Rights
John Hutson	...	Himself - Rear Admiral
Maan Kaassamani	...	Detainee - New York studio shoot reenactment
Anthony Lagouranis	...	Himself - Military Intelligence (as Tony Lagouranis)
Eric Lahammer	...	Himself - Military Interrogator
Carl Levin	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee
Steven Loring	...	Himself - Sergeant
John McCain	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alfred W. McCoy	...	Himself - Professor of Political History
James McGarrah	...	Himself - Rear Admiral
Dan McNeill	...	Himself - General (archive footage) (voice)
Geoffrey D. Miller	...	Himself - Major General (archive footage)
Alberto J. Mora	...	Himself - General Counsel of the US Navy
Anthony Morden	...	Himself - Sergeant: Military Police
Dan Mori	...	Himself - Major
Richard Myers	...	Himself - General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (archive footage)
Karyn Plonsky	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Colin Powell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Reed	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself - U.S. Secretary of Defense (archive footage)
Selena Salcedo	...	Herself - Sergeant
Randall M. Schmidt	...	Himself - Lieutenant General
Clive Stafford Smith	...	Himself - Lawyer
Glendale Walls	...	Himself - Military Intelligence
Lawrence Wilkerson	...	Himself - US Army Colonel
Tom Wilner	...	Himself - Attorney
Carolyn A. Wood	...	Herself - Captain (archive footage)
John Yoo	...	Himself - US Department of Justice
Tim Russert	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Alex Gibney

Writing credits (WGA)
Alex Gibney		(written by)

Produced by
Sidney Blumenthal	....	executive producer
Don Edkins	....	executive producer: Steps International
Hans Robert Eisenhauer	....	commissioning editor: ZDF/Arte
Martin Fisher	....	co-producer (as Marty Fisher)
Blair Foster	....	co-producer
Alex Gibney	....	producer
Don Glascoff	....	executive producer
Mette Heide	....	executive producer: Steps International
Mette Hoffman Meyer	....	executive producer
Robert Johnson	....	executive producer
Sloane Klevin	....	co-producer
Eva Orner	....	producer
Susannah Shipman	....	producer
Jedd Wider	....	executive producer
Todd Wider	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ivor Guest

Cinematography by
Maryse Alberti
Greg Andracke

Film Editing by
Sloane Klevin

Art Department
Michael Ahern	....	carpenter: New York studio shoot, reenactment (as Mike Ahern)
Joe Cairo	....	art director: New York studio shoot, reenactment
Amanda Ford	....	production designer: New York studio shoot, reenactment
Gina Freedman	....	props: New York studio shoot, reenactment

Sound Department
Felix Andrew	....	sound mixer
Michael Boyle	....	additional sound
Travis Call	....	audio post supervisor
Margaret Crimmins	....	sound designer
Jim Daumeyer	....	additional sound
Don Grissom	....	additional sound
Michael Isabell	....	additional sound
Steve Osmon	....	sound mixer
Jimmy Peterson	....	additional sound
Brenda Ray	....	additional sound
Len Schmitz	....	additional sound
Greg Smith	....	sound designer
Paul Thompson	....	additional sound
Tony Volante	....	sound re-recording mixer
Claudia Woloshin	....	additional sound

Visual Effects by
Craig Davis	....	visual effects designer: Version2
Tim Farrell	....	visual effects designer: Version2
Lydia Holness	....	head of production: Version2
Lydia Holness	....	visual effects producer: Version2
Kelley McDermott	....	visual effects producer: Version2
Mike McKenna	....	visual effects designer: Version 2
Rebecca Mitchell	....	assistant visual effects producer: Version2
Federico Saenz-Recio	....	visual effects designer: Version2
Kieran Walsh	....	inferno artist: Version2
Kieran Walsh	....	visual effects creative director: Version2

Stunts
Elliot Santiago	....	stunt coordinator: New York studio shoot, reenactment

Camera and Electrical Department
Felix Andrew	....	additional cinematographer
Ben Bloodwell	....	assistant camera
Mariusz Cichon	....	assistant camera
Nate Clapp	....	assistant camera (as Nate Clap)
Luis Colon	....	grip
Matt Green	....	additional cinematographer
Andrew B. Hansen	....	gaffer (as Andrew Hanson)
Roger Holliday	....	assistant camera (as Roger Holiday)
Peter Jouvenal	....	additional cinematographer
Idris Kabulzad	....	additional cinematographer
Brian Leach	....	gaffer
Chris Li	....	additional cinematographer
Alan McIntyre Smith	....	gaffer (as Alan Smith)
Étienne Sauret	....	additional cinematographer (as Etienne Sauret)
Brett Wiley	....	additional cinematographer
Claudia Woloshin	....	assistant camera

Animation Department
Craig Davis	....	animator: Version2
Tim Farrell	....	animator: Version2
Mike McKenna	....	animator: Version2
Federico Saenz-Recio	....	animator: Version2

Casting Department
Daphne McWilliams	....	executive director of casting: New York studio shoot, reenactment
Christine Nelson	....	casting: New York studio shoot, reenactment

Editorial Department
Marc Brown	....	film output: digital intermediate
Eric Bruggemann	....	additional editor
Tim Farrell	....	on-line editor: Version2
Nick Fraser	....	commissioning editor: BBC Storyville
Lindy Jankura	....	assistant editor
Jonathan Liebert	....	digital cinema mastering
Scot Olive	....	colorist: PostWorks (as Scott Olive)
Leigh Anne Sides	....	assistant editor
Don Wyllie	....	on-line editor: high definition. Frame: Runner

Music Department
Fred Ala	....	musician: acoustic guitar
Cameron Craig	....	recording and mix engineer
Amar Dhanjan	....	musician: singer
Adam Green	....	musician: steel guitar and electric guitar
Mario Grigorov	....	composer: additional music
Ivor Guest	....	musician: keyboards and arrangements
Robert Logan	....	musician: keyboards
Faheem Mahzar	....	musician: singer
John McCullough	....	music supervisor
Philip Sheppard	....	musician: cello and electric cello
Paul Wassif	....	musician: dobro

Other crew
Lisa Andracke	....	production assistant
Richard Dworkin	....	transcripts: Transcripts Associates
Jacqueline Eckhouse	....	production counsel: Sloss Law (as Jackie Eckhouse)
Salimah El-Amin	....	researcher (as Salimah El Amin)
Ben Fine	....	end titles
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	production accountant (as Jennifer Freed)
Garren Givens	....	intern
Lisa Gray	....	intern
Rahmat Haqmal	....	translator
Erin Heidenreich	....	sales agent
Charlie Hoxie	....	intern
Nick Johnson	....	intern
David Joray	....	production assistant
Barbara Karen	....	production accountant
Marzia Milanesi	....	publicist
Dana O'Keefe	....	sales agent
Amanda Ritchie	....	production assistant
Peter Russotti	....	production coordinator
Marcia Rutledge	....	insurance: Marsh Entertainment Insurance
Hanif Sherzad	....	fixer: Afghanistan
Ben Sozanski	....	production assistant
Ben Sozanski	....	researcher
Robert Stein	....	legal counsel: Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn
Rebecca Wexler	....	intern
Crystal Whelan	....	production coordinator
Jordan Young	....	production assistant

Thanks
Frank Gibney	....	dedicatee (as Frank B. Gibney)

Production Companies

• Discovery Channel (in association with)
• Jigsaw Productions
• Tall Woods
• Wider Film Projects (in association with)
• X-Ray Productions (as Xray Productions)

Distributors

• THINKFilm (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Revolver Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Version2 (graphics and visual effects)

Other Companies

• Bedrock Catering  catering: New York studio shoot, reenactment
• Dawn Animal Agency  animals: New York studio shoot, reenactment
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Donna Daniels Public Relations  publicity
• Frame:Runner  high definiition on-line editing
• Glue Editing and Design  additional post-production
• Marsh Entertainment Insurance  insurance
• Postworks New York  color correction (as PostWorks)
• Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn  legal counsel
• Sloss Law Office  production counsel (as Sloss Law)
• Sound Lounge  sound post-production (as Soundlounge)
• Soundtrack  trailer
• Transcript Associates  transcripts (as Transcripts Associates)
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting
• Union Editorial  post-production services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images, and content involving torture and graphic nudity

Runtime:

106 min | Finland:53 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:R (British Columbia) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Yakubi, Afghanistan

Company:

Discovery Channel

Movie Connections:

Features "The Situation Room" (2005)

Well-supported proof of the inefficiency of a Bush administration policy

This is yet another documentary aimed at the Bush administration hitting in the soft spot with one of the most stringent issues related to the post 9/11 events. What makes Gibney's film worth watching is its effectiveness in representing its subject matter. Much of this effectiveness stems from the fact that this is, as far as possible, an objective approach. It tries to link the major flaws of the Bush administration to the chain of command that leads to such heinous crimes as depicted in the film. The faults of the administration are not presupposed but shown to be the case in an argumentative manner. It's easy to point the finger and say that something is amiss with the U.S army and its procedures but to actually prove it like a surgeon cutting and exposing the wound is much more convincing.

The subject matter is not entirely new, there have been serious debates about the Bagram and Abu Ghrayb interrogation procedures for the suspects of terrorism as far as 2004 but the issue has never really hit the public with significant impact. This documentary demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that the U.S army is responsible for murder and the guilt is shared by the administrations' contempt for a legal system (The Geneva Convention) that should give the procedural framework to handle the most difficult cases (even terrorists) as humanely as possible. After all, the Americans handled Hitler's bunch very carefully and they executed them only AFTER they were proved guilty.

But besides showing that the Bush administrations' lack of interest for the law and the absurd behavior among many soldiers lead to innocents' being killed, this film analyzes the matter as a case of administrative failure. Bush and Rumsfeld etc. are not only shown to be immoral (which was a thing that didn't need proof, anyway) but they are shown to be ineffective leaders who are unable to take the best decisions. Torture is not the best alternative to obtain information, not as much as effective as gaining the trust of the prisoner, for instance. Then why do it? Just for the fun of it?

I liked the way this was realized on a technical scale, very good pacing, editing and cinematography (the shots in Afganisthan really managed to capture the beauty of the landscape)