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A former guard at Guantanamo Bay Prison has revealed the cruelty and chaos that dominated the early days of the US-run prison. Army Pvt. Brandon Neely says soldiers behaved shamefully towards detainees through torture and humiliation, until observers from Red Cross International arrived. Guantanamo was one of several aspects of George W Bush’s presidency that belied his rhetoric of freedom. Under Bush, freedom for Iraqis and Afghans was expressed through brutal war, while freedom for Americans translated into the Department of Homeland Security and invasive legislation like the USA PATRIOT Act. Today, we explore the concepts of freedom as expressed by politicians and revolutionaries through the work of British film maker Adam Curtis.

The work of Adam Curtis is best known through his earlier documentaries that KPFK has featured, including the wildly popular Power of Nightmares, and The Century of Self. Today we bring you another three-hour masterpiece by Curtis called The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom. Like his other films, The Trap is a three-part documentary series with Curtis’ signature style of combining stock and vintage footage from popular culture with an eerie soundtrack. The film aired on BBC and was viewed by millions in Europe. But here in the US, very few Americans have been exposed to it. The series explores the concept and definition of freedom, specifically, as Curtis says, “how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today’s idea of freedom.”

Thank you Gifts:

The Trap: $75
The Power of Nightmares: $75
The Century of the Self: $90
The Adam Curtis DVD Pack: $200