WarCriminalsWatch Events

The American Civil Liberties Union and PEN American
Center, in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival, will present a
special performance of "Reckoning With Torture: Memos and Testimonies
From the 'War on Terror'.  Acclaimed director Doug Liman
(The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fair Game) will direct this
special performance of "Reckoning," an evening of readings, screenings
and art meant to raise awareness of the last administration's torture
program and to press the current administration to hold accountable the
government officials who authorized torture.

It's a privilege to work with the ACLU and PEN American Center on
this important project," said Liman. :As the documents we are
presenting make clear, there is no longer any doubt that the United States
repeatedly and systematically violated longstanding prohibitions on
torture. We're at a pivotal moment in history, and my hope is that
America will choose a path toward restoring this nation as a defender of
human rights. If everyone gets involved in calling for accountability for
torture, that is what will happen."

Paul Auster, Annie Proulx, Marilynne Robinson, Naomi Wolf, Sandra
Cisneros, Alex Gibney and other internationally acclaimed writers and
artists will join former CIA and military officials to read from the
detailed reports of numerous prisoners, government memos authorizing
abusive techniques, and other documents detailing the scope and disastrous
human cost of the U.S. torture program. Never-before-seen videos of former
Guantánamo detainees discussing the abuse they endured will be screened
between readings. The artist Jenny Holzer, whose work was the subject of a
retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2009, has created
original artwork for the "Reckoning" project. Many of the readings
come from government documents obtained by the ACLU in a lawsuit that the
New York Times recently described as "among the most successful in the
history of public disclosure."

"The Reckoning With Torture program is one part of our broader
effort to press the Obama administration to hold accountable the senior
government officials who authorized torture," said Jameel Jaffer, Deputy
Legal Director of the ACLU. "We are gratified that Doug Liman and so
many extraordinary artists are joining this effort. The administration's
failure to confront the legacy of torture compromises America's ability
to advocate for human rights in other countries and erodes the rule of law
here at home. We hope that the Reckoning program can help convey how
crucial it is that we confront this legacy rather than ignore it."

"Something extraordinary happens when ordinary people stand up in public
and read the words of these formerly secret government documents," PEN
American Center Freedom to Write and International Programs Director Larry
Siems added. "To work with Doug Liman and this incredible group of
readers to bring this experience to Sundance and to record this event
for a documentary film that will make the experience available to all
Americans will do more than a thousand news reports and editorials to
explain how we honor the best in ourselves and in our history by
collectively confronting the past."

The ACLU and PEN have been staging "Reckoning With Torture" events
around the country for the past two years. The Sundance event will mark
the start of production of a feature length documentary, which will also
be directed by Liman.