Screening of "The Response" on Sunday, December 11th after worship

The Response(2008, Adam Rogers, USA, 30 minutes)St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan SquareSunday, December 11, 201112pm - 12:30pm

As Christians, we are called to attend to the difficult issues in our public life, especially when it concerns the extreme "us vs. them" divides that rend our human community. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the use of Guantanamo for indefinite detention of suspects in the "war on terror," a film screening at St. Luke's will give us the opportunity to learn, and then to act.

"The Response" is a courtroom drama based on actual transcripts of the Guantanamo military tribunals, starring Aasif Mandvi, Kate Mulgrew, and Peter Riegert. The 30-minute film was short-listed for an Oscar in 2010 and won the prestigious ABA Silver Gavel award. It has been screened at major law schools, international human rights film festivals, homes of Amnesty International members nationwide, a Congressional audience, and even at the Pentagon, Department of Justice, Army JAG School, and West Point. (See http://www.theresponsemovie.com)  As Dahlia Lithwick of Slate said, "This movie has achieved in 30 minutes what I have attempted to achieve over the last seven years."

Joe Scarry became an associate producer with the film after seeing it screened in Chicago, and being challenged by the comment of a panelist, "Everyone must help fix what's been broken by this process."  Since that time, he has managed the online outreach for the film and helped manage screenings around the country. He will talk about the issues, the film, and the upcoming efforts by Amnesty International and a coalition of a dozen other organizations to reform U.S. detention practices (More at http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/sign-up-day-of-action-against-guantanamo )