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 The Independent Film & Video Monthly April 1997 And the other winners are.... By Patricia Thomson & Cara Mertes In addition to recognizing the films that received official awards, The Independent here presents its own meritorious honors:.... Most likely to be suppressed  He worked at MacNeil-Lehrer and CNN; she is
a self-described tabloid babe, having worked at "Current Affair."
Together Amy Sommer Gifford and her husband Dan Gifford executive-produced
a powerful documentary about one of America's most misunderstood events,
the disastrous FBI-led assault on an obscure religious sect outside of
Waco, Texas.On April 19, 1993, during an assault on the Branch Davidian compound, 76 Branch Davidians died in a blazing fire. The government said the Davidians committed mass suicide. The evidence shows otherwise. "Our goal going into the documentary was to figure out how this happened," says Ms. Gifford of their 165-minute film Waco: The Rules of Engagement. "The real tragedy is that everyone thought they were doing the right thing. The road to hell is paved with good intentions." With director/co-writer/editor William Gazecki, the Giffords spent almost two years producing the film. Its detailed analysis of those fateful 51 days is based on previously unseen footage shot by the Davidians during the siege, amateur video by an FBI sniper, infrared surveillance footage of the fire, news footage of government hearings about the fiasco, and interviews with survivors. In its uncritical support of David Koresh and the activities of the Branch Davidians, the film seems at times driven by an anti-government conspiracy-theory agenda, but it unearths important material in the search for what happened at Waco. When asked what prompted their interest in the subject, Ms. Gifford says, "200 years of uninterrupted democratic rule is something I, as an American, am very proud of. I think that, as a country, we have the strength to look at this event." ©1997 The Independent Film & Video Monthly |
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