Real Art Ways, in collaboration with West Hartford Citizens for Peace & Justice, to Present Producer of 2007 Oscar-winning Documentary

Hartford, CT -- Real Art Ways will host a talk and Q/A session by Don Glascoff, producer of “Taxi to the Dark Side,” the winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary, following its premiere screening of the film on Friday, May 2 at 7:30 PM. Mr. Glascoff’s appearance will be co-sponsored by the West Hartford Citizens for Peace & Justice. More information can be found by visiting www.realartways.org, or by calling (860) 232-1006.

The film documents the story of Dilawar, an Afghan taxi driver falsely implicated in a 2002 terrorist bombing. Following his arrest, he was taken to the American prison at the Bagram, Afghanistan, air base, where he was tortured. Within five days, he was dead. The autopsy report states that the death was a homicide, and U.S. soldiers, but no officers, were accused. (Later, the paid informant who named Dilawar a suspect was proven to have been the actual bomber in the attack for which Dilawar was arrested.)

“Taxi to the Dark Side” gets its name from a comment about anti-terror tactics made by Vice President Dick Cheney shortly after 9/11. Mr. Cheney alluded to torture, saying of American anti-terror strategy that, “we have to work the dark side.”

Directed by Alex Gibney (who also directed the 2005 documentary, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), the film presents records of Dilawar’s case, along with candid testimony from eyewitnesses and soldiers who participated in Dilawar’s torture, eventually uncovering a definitive link between this incident and the policies made by the Bush administration.

“The film tracks the responsibility for a policy of torture to the highest levels of American government,” Mr. Glascoff says.

Mr. Glascoff is a retired partner and co-chairman of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the oldest Wall Street law firm. He is the chairman of the Park Avenue Bank in New York City. He served as special assistant to the general counsel (1973-1974), and associate deputy general counsel (1974-1975) in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

West Hartford Citizens for Peace & Justice is a non-profit organization that seeks to raise public awareness of current peace and justice issues. They do so primarily through presenting forums and films for the general public.