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MPAA Rejects Iraq Doc Ad

  • Variety, Thursday, December 20, 2007 11:30 AM

The Motion Picture Association of America has rejected an ad for documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side," a film that traces a pattern of American-sponsored torture from Afghanistan to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo. The movie, already on the Oscar shortlist, opens Jan. 11. At issue is a poster with a news photo of U.S. soldiers walking away with a hooded detainee.

An MPAA spokesman says the organization treats all films the same and if "advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration." But distributor ThinkFilm believes the MPAA's stated reasons are pretty bogus, at least according to producer, writer and director Alex Gibney: "Not permitting us to use an image of a hooded man that comes from a documentary photograph is censorship, pure and simple. Intentional or not, the MPAA's disapproval of the poster is a political act, undermining legitimate criticism of the Bush administration."

Gibney adds: "I agree that the image is offensive; it's also real."

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