Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

About the Project

GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB is documentary film that examines and contextualizes the abuses that occurred in the fall of 2003, abuses documented in photographs that remain etched in our national consciousness and will remain so for years to come. The documentary asks: what do those events still say about America, our government, our military, and human nature? The film is built on the direct, personal narratives of the perpetrators, witnesses, and victims of the abuse and probes the psychology of how typical American men and women can come to commit atrocious acts. On a parallel track, the film explores the chronology of recent policy decisions that have eroded our alliance with the Geneva conventions that contributed to making this abuse a reality.

The familiar and disturbing pictures of torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison raise many troubling questions: How did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib? Did U.S. government policies make it possible? How much damage has the aftermath of Abu Ghraib had on America's credibility as a defender of freedom and human rights around the world? Acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy looks beyond the headlines to investigate the psychological and political context in which torture occurred.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

We believed that it was important to explore how and why the abuses at Abu Ghraib occurred in order to prevent them in the future. We were convinced that a documentary film about the subject would be an important vehicle for promoting public dialogue. To that end, we were thrilled to be an Executive Producer on this film and to have provided important production funding. We are also supporting the strategic outreach campaign coordinated by Working Films to continue to keep the issue of torture in the national debate. Working Films is working in partnership with Rory Kennedy and Moxie Firecracker Films and with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Human Rights First, the ACLU and additional groups of faith, human rights organizations, law students and legal associations throughout the country on the campaign which is aimed at ending US policy that sanctions torture.