The McCain Institute and Amazon Studios hosted a screening Wednesday night of Scott Z. Burns’ upcoming movie “The Report” starring Oscar nominated actors Adam Driver and Annette Bening, and Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm.
The screening took place at the Irene Theater in the Arizona Science Center, in downtown Phoenix.
The movie, directed by Burns and produced by Steven Soderbergh, follows the true story of Senate investigator Daniel J. Jones, portrayed by Adam Driver, as he worked to bring to light torture tactics used by the C.I.A. on suspected terrorists in the years following 9/11.
Both Burns and Jones were in attendance at the screening and participated in a discussion following the film, moderated by ambassador Clint Williamson of the McCain Institute.
The screening was kicked off by Cindy McCain, wife of the late Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain said that it became her “quest” to become involved with the screening of the film because the issues presented were ever-present in her family’s life.
“As you know, my husband was ardently opposed to the use of torture by the United States,” McCain said. “While many leaders defended and made excuses as to why it was necessary to use banned torture methods in the aftermath of 9/11, my husband, a victim of torture himself, challenged those leaders on their choices.”
McCain said her husband greatly admired Jones’ work and would have been proud of the film.
“[Senator McCain] had the utmost respect for our C.I.A. and intelligence officials, there was no doubt about that,” McCain said. “But when it came to the use of torture, he knew all too well why they were wrong. He endured unspeakable cruelty while he was a prisoner in Vietnam. He knew those methods employed by the C.I.A. would not work.”
Jones said that “in so many ways, the report wouldn’t have been completed without the support and perseverance of John McCain.”
Jones said the C.I.A. initially was found to be destroying tapes of interrogations in December 2007. Jones investigated the C.I.A. for seven years and finally published his report in 2014. He said he felt that it was important for Americans to know what was going on within their own government.
“It was gratifying to see that we were front page covered, had front page coverage all over the world, but you know, the next day it was gone,” Jones said. “In this news cycle where things happen so quickly, even people who follow the news and who follow national security news, forgot about it.”
Jones was a staffer in the U.S. Senate when he was called in to investigate the C.I.A. under the direction of Senator Dianne Feinstein, portrayed in the film by Annette Bening. The movie demonstrates some of the struggles Jones faced in trying to finish his report, including making enemies within the C.I.A. and constantly fighting for the right to continue the investigation.
Burns said he became interested in Jones’ story after reading his report and seeing the story in the news. He then called Senator Feinstein, asked to be connected with Jones, and learned enough about the issue to being working on an early script in 2014.
Burns said when deciding to make a movie, he looks for stories that are going to “have meaning to a lot of people.”
“The odyssey that Dan went on and what Adam Driver and I tried to create was somebody who had great intellectual rigor and great determination and great focus and a lot of integrity,” Burns said. “I think it’s rare when we meet characters like that in real life and they’re exciting to turn into characters in movies.”
“The Report” will be in theatres on Nov. 19 and available to stream on Amazon Prime on Nov. 29.
Contact the reporter at erfontan@asu.edu.
