Secrecy 2008
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by Redacted Pictures
Directed by Peter Galison & Rob Moss
DVD, color, 80 or 56 min.
Jr. High - Adult
Political Science, Criminal Justice, International Relations, Sociology, Democracy, Domestic and International American Governmental Policy, Ethics
Date Entered: 04/08/2009
Reviewed by Malcolm L. Rigsby, Department of Sociology, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, ARThis film is truly a monumental work of art. Facts and data backup statements well with balance and duality of opinion regarding the legitimacy of secrecy vs. free open records.
Use of this documentary and the accompanying thirty-eight page Study Guide provide an excellent curriculum complement for classes within several disciplines of study. Due to the excellent and attention getting production this film should be very adaptable to a wide range of students and groups or individuals who wish to study this subject. The self-exacting Study Guide deserves a few particular remarks. The guide’s design helps the viewer organize the material viewed in such a way as to create a “bread crumb” trail of the development of “Secrecy” files since the late 1940’s up to present. The guide also provides excellent study questions that assist the individual to categorize pros and cons of the policy of secrecy, when it should be employed, when it should be dispensed with and above all helps to determine who should be given the power to determine which files and “knowledge” is to be classified as secret or not.
In addition to the extended and short version of the documentary, several short segments edit particular interviews as well as the landmark cases signifying the beginning and end of the era of secrecy. Do not let the length of the extended version daunt. Both versions have numerous well-described chapters or segments that promote viewer maneuvering and review.
The film provokes the question as to whom is to be delegated the “power” to determine “when, where, how and how long” matters should be secret. This requires the viewer to examine whether being out of sight and out of mind is really a comfort. Simultaneously, the film recognizes that there are times that certain information needs concealing, at least for a time. As a great documentary should do, the balance of opinion enables the viewer to make his or her own conclusions.
A must see!