Review of Unconstitutional: The War On Our Civil Liberties (2004) by Chris G — 15 Jun 2012

A solid piece of agit-prop brought to life with personal accounts...

Celebrated documentary filmmaker Nonny de la Peña (â??Mama/M.A.M.A.â?? & â??The Jaundiced Eyeâ??) turns her attention to the widespread abuse of civil liberties carried out following the 9/11 attacks under the auspices of the hastily rushed through USA PATRIOT Act in the final volume of the â??Un-trilogyâ?? from Exec. Producer Robert Greenwald.

The film kicks off with a quick prologue detailing how the controversial bill was rushed through congress read by few if any of those voting on it before going on to examine the effects through the personal stories of U.S. Olympic rower Aquil Abdullah, North Carolina college student A.J. Brown and Syrian exile Safouh Hamoui.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero heads up the line-up of esteemed talking heads including David Lindorff, Barbara Olshansky and Vincent Cannistraro, who are on hand to provide expert commentary, but itâ??s the personal accounts of A.J. Brown, Andrew Oâ??Connor, Azmat Begg, Aquil Abdullah and the heroic Hamoui Family which shine through.

The established filmmaker expertly enlivens an admittedly somewhat stodgy talking-heads style documentary film with some slightly editorialised personal stories which bring the entire production to life and give it a purpose beyond merely documenting the administrationâ??s repeated violations of the constitution.

â??I am here for the freedom.â??