Film on Jack Abramoff to be Released This Year

March 17, 2008

Filmmaker Alex Gibney won a well-deserved Oscar this month for his film, Taxi to the Dark Side. The documentary was featured in the Global Peace Film Festival last September in Orlando where it received rave reviews. The film looks at an Afghan taxi driver who was beaten to death by American soldiers in 2002 while he was being held in detention. It also explores the Bush Administration's policy on torture and interrogation as applied in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. See the trailer.

Alex Gibney is known for his hard-hitting, compelling documentaries that explore how power and corruption take people on a downward slide. In another acclaimed film, Enron, The Smartest Guys in the Room, the director/writer explored one of the biggest scandals of corporate America.

With that said, it's not surprising that Mr. Gibney would take one of the largest political scandals in recent years, the Abramoff lobbying scandal. His new film, tentatively titled Casino Jack - the United States of Money, will take a look at Jack Abramoff, his political background, lobbying, and backroom deals. The film will include a look at the CNMI lobbying deals and the web of corruption that reached from Saipan to the halls of the U.S. Congress.