"The response matters. Our response defines us."
--Colonel Jefferson 
THE RESPONSE is a courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the
Guantanamo Bay military tribunals [officially known as the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, or
CSRTs]. In the film, three military judges must decide the fate of a Middle Eastern
detainee. Is he an enemy combatant, guilty of providing material support to Al Qaeda
and responsible for the deaths of several American soldiers? Or is he an innocent victim
of circumstances as he claims?
While the judges see the classified evidence, the detainee does not. While the judges
know who has accused the detainee, the detainee does not. In response, the government
counters that to release such classified information could assist the terrorist networks and
undermine U.S. national security.
For the first time ever, THE RESPONSE holds a mirror up to the tribunals and allows
an audience to see and hear for themselves what goes on inside Guantanamo. While the
three judges and the detainee are fictionalized composite characters, the dramatic
situation of the legal process is fully accurate.
The film places the audience inside a Kafkaesque tribunal process where they, along with
the military judges, must decide whether the evidence presented is convincing and
credible and if the detainee is, indeed, an enemy combatant.
THE RESPONSE was researched and fully vetted in conjunction with the University of
Maryland School of Law where the film was shot in just 3 days with a minimal budget.
The talented cast and crew agreed to defer all or most of their salaries so that the film
could be made. The University donated its locations and the staff and students donated
their time and energies.
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