Natonal Geographic to Host Screening and Panel Discussion with Guantamo Bay Detention Center Experts

SAVE THE DATE – TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL HOSTS SCREENING AND PANEL DISCUSSION WITH GUANTANAMO BAY EXPERTS IN ADVANCE OF ITS WORLD PREMIERE FILM, EXPLORER: INSIDE GUANTANAMO, AN IN-DEPTH PORTRAIT OF THE INFAMOUS DETENTION CENTER.

Moderated by Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace and Featuring a Panel of Experts — Including Current and Former Gitmo Officials — Offers Diverse Perspectives on the Prison in Its Twilight and the Fate of Its Roughly 250 Remaining Detainees.

"This film is the result of an incredibly unique opportunity for a film crew, and therefore the public, to see from the inside a place that is of utmost importance to who we are as Americans."  ¯ Director/Producer Bonni Cohen

WHAT:     Film screening and panel discussion to discuss life behind the razor wire of the infamous detention center and to preview National Geographic Channel’s world premiere special, Explorer: Inside Guantanamo. 

WHEN:    Tuesday, March 31, 2009
                 6:00 p.m. ET – Cocktail Reception
                 7:30 p.m. ET – Film Screening (Abridged One-Hour Version) and Panel Discussion

WHO:      Moderator: Chris Wallace, Host of FOX News Channel’s FOX News Sunday

Panelists:

• Master Sergeant William Jones, Current Senior Enlisted Officer-in-Charge of Guantanamo’s Maximum Security Facility
• Colonel Donald Woolfolk (Ret.), Former Deputy Commander of Guantanamo and Supervising Interrogator (2002-2003)
• Secretary Charles "Cully" Stimson, Former Pentagon Head of Detainee Affairs (2006-2007)
• Alberto Mora, Former General Counsel of the U.S. Navy (2001-2006) and Recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award   
• Sarah Havens, Habeas Corpus Attorney Defending Current Detainees Bonni Cohen, Film Director and Producer (spent three weeks at Guantanamo)

WHERE:  National Geographic Headquarters, 1145 17th Street NW (M Street entrance), Washington, DC 20036

PRESS RSVP:     Christie Parell, 202-496-2124 (office) or 703-577-8802 (cell); [email protected]

NOTE: Panelists may be available for media interviews during the event. Please submit interview requests by COB Monday, March 30.  A mult box will be available for audio hookup.

About the Documentary:

Explorer: Inside Guantanamo Premieres Sunday, April 5, 2009, at 9 p.m. ET/PT Guantanamo Bay, home to one of the most restricted prisons in the world, has been a lightning rod for critics and controversy.  As President Obama commits to close Guantanamo within the first year of his presidency, National Geographic Channel’s Emmy-award winning series Explorer offers a surprisingly intimate portrait of the detention center in its twilight. 

With extensive access unlike any other granted by the U.S. military, Inside Guantanamo follows daily life behind the razor wire for nearly three weeks, documenting the pressurized interaction and contest of wills among soldiers and detainees, as well as briefings and operations that have previously been off-limits. 

The two-hour special includes candid interviews with troopers at Guantanamo, top officials who believe an al-Qaida cell is active in the facility, former interrogators and detainees, as well as attorneys representing those being held.