Past Selections

2009 Official Selections

The Response

The Response is a courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. In the film, three military judges must decide the fate of a Middle Eastern detainee. Is he an enemy combatant, guilty of providing material support to Al Qaeda and responsible for the deaths of several American soldiers? Or is he an innocent victim of circumstances as he claims? While the judges see the classified evidence, the detainee does not. While the judges know who has accused the detainee, the detainee does not. In response, the government counters that to release such classified information could assist the terrorists and undermine U.S. national security. The Response holds a mirror up to the tribunals and allows an audience to see and hear for themselves what goes on inside Guantanamo. While the three judges and the detainee are fictionalized composite characters, the dramtic situation of the legal process is fully accurate. The film places the audience inside a Kafkaesque tribunal process where they, along with the military judges, must decide whether the evidence presented is convincing and credible and if the detainee is, indeed, an enemy combatant.

Runtime: 30 minutes

http://www.theresponsemovie.com

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