{"id":1662045,"date":"2022-09-28T08:55:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T12:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1662045"},"modified":"2022-09-28T08:56:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T12:56:06","slug":"oscar-winner-alex-gibney-defends-canceled-doc-jihad-rehab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oscar-winner-alex-gibney-defends-canceled-doc-jihad-rehab\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar-Winner Alex Gibney Defends Canceled Doc \u201cJihad Rehab\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foscar-winner-alex-gibney-defends-canceled-doc-jihad-rehab%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1662045&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Alex Gibney might be the second biggest name in documentary films.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/michael-moore-lying-attacks-life\/\">Michael Moore<\/a>, for better and worse, holds top honors here.<\/p>\n<p>Gibney\u2019s resume includes \u201cEnron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,\u201d \u201cTaxi to the Dark Side,\u201d \u201cWe Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks\u201d and \u201cTotally Under Control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His work earns critical kudos, intense press interest and the Academy\u2019s undivided attention. \u201cDark Side\u201d earned him Best Documentary honors in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>The filmmaker is a reliably liberal voice, too, often framing subjects from a left-leaning perspective. His features critiquing Donald Trump and the War on Terror highlight that point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So does his <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexgibneyfilm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter feed.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unlike modern progressives, though, Gibney understands how censorship should be anathema to liberals.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t, of course.<\/p>\n<p>Most censorial attacks now hail from the Left \u2013 from academia and journalism to within his own industry. Consider the recent assault on \u201cJihad Rehab.\u201d Director Meg Smaker\u2019s documentary examines ex-terrorists and their attempts at rehabilitation.<\/p>\n<p>The film earned a coveted slot at the Sundance Film Festival and early raves:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThis is a movie for intelligent people looking to have their preconceived notions challenged.\u201d \u2013 The Guardian<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The documentary snagged the full-throated support of progressive darling Abigail Disney. Then, a <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2022\/09\/26\/cancel-culture-jihad-rehab-meg-smaker-film-sundance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wave of criticism sank the film<\/a>, focusing on its alleged Islamophobia and the fact that Smaker is white and therefore ill-equipped to tell the story.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s despite her extensive ties to Middle Eastern culture.<\/p>\n<p>This wasn\u2019t just folks sharing their First Amendment right to critique a movie.\u00a0Disney yanked her support from the film and several festivals canceled its screenings. Sundance issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/jihad-rehab-sundance-meg-smaker-new-york-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">formal apology for showing \u201cJihad Rehab\u201d<\/a> a full month after its debut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been listening to, and reflecting on, the many perspectives shared around the inclusion of Meg Smaker\u2019s documentary film \u2018Jihad Rehab\u2019 at our Festival in January. As with every film we show, we hope to stimulate conversation and debate that adds value to our civic society. In this case it is clear that the showing of this film hurt members of our community \u2014 in particular, individuals from Muslim and MENASA communities \u2014 and for that we are deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most dramatic attack came from Smaker\u2019s fellow artists. A group of 230 filmmakers signed an open letter condemning the movie, even though many signees admitted to not seeing the documentary.<\/p>\n<p>Gibney\u2019s name wasn\u2019t on that list.<\/p>\n<p>The filmmaker used Twitter to share his digest with the events surrounding the film.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Important article on freedom of expression in documentaries in today\u2019s NY Times. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EfD5XdrySL\">https:\/\/t.co\/EfD5XdrySL<\/a> When films are shown, the authors should expect to be open to praise or criticism. Fair. What should be of concern are campaigns intended to silence voices and censor films. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GHH0qBO8HH\">https:\/\/t.co\/GHH0qBO8HH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Gibney (@alexgibneyfilm) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexgibneyfilm\/status\/1574099378331164672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He doubled down on that sentiment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">My analysis is not wrong. I don\u2019t object to criticism of any kind. (Though i may disagree.) what was wrong in this instance was an attempt to prevent the film from being shown at all. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R7LfVCa6Dt\">https:\/\/t.co\/R7LfVCa6Dt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Gibney (@alexgibneyfilm) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexgibneyfilm\/status\/1574379348236197890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Will other artists rally to Smaker\u2019s side?<\/p>\n<p>Given the momentum against the film and the professional perils of defying Cancel Culture, it\u2019s likely she\u2019ll have few supporters as prominent, and as vocal, as Gibney.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTE<\/strong>: The following thread from independent journalist Jesse Single is a must-read.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Left is a quote from a critical article about \u201cThe UnRedacted\u201d by Assia Boundaoui, a filmmaker. Right is a direct quote from the film in which Meg Smaker, the filmmaker, is talking to a detainee<\/p>\n<p>The level of straight-up lying that goes into these outrage campaigns is disgraceful <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QSziB1Vsby\">pic.twitter.com\/QSziB1Vsby<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jessesingal\/status\/1574559589986893824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 27, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Gibney might be the second biggest name in documentary films. Michael Moore, for better and worse, holds top honors here. Gibney\u2019s resume includes \u201cEnron: The Smartest Guys in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1662047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1662045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1662045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1662047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1662045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1662045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1662045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}