“The First Amendment guarantees you the right to be weird. We look at it as a human rights violation,” comments Amy Sommer Gifford, co-executive producer of Waco: The Rules of Engagement. The filmmaker is clear about her involvement with this startling documentary. “There are a lot of wacky theories out there, both on the far left and the far right.” But her bottom line is “the fact that 80 human beings died. Four ATF agents left behind grieving families; 76 Branch Davidians left behind grieving families. Human beings died. Eighty human beings lost their lives.”
The Waco documentary has been causing a stir ever since its January debut at the Sundance Film Festival. The nearly three-hour-long film details the story of a federal law enforcement action gone tragically wrong. It challenges our predetermined suppositions about the event with testimony from diverse commentators, technical experts, scholars, and participants; home video made by the Branch Davidians inside the compound during the siege; amateur video made by an FBI agent while on stake-out; and heat-sensing FLIR photography that uniquely calls into question the “official” truth about how the deadly fires erupted.
Waco is opening at the Dobie Theatre in Austin on Friday May 2, although it has yet to open in New York or Los Angeles. When asked why they chose such an atypical release pattern, Amy Sommer Gifford replied, “I think it’s because of Scott Dinger [Dobie’s owner and booker], who was gracious and has been a tremendous help. And really… he invited us, so we came. The thing is, we never thought we’d have to self-distribute. We had Pollyanna dreams. `If we go to Sundance, we’ll be like Ed Burns [who became an overnight success with The Brothers McMullen].’ And it didn’t quite work out that way. But when we got into this independent distribution world, we met this great group of people who’ve been phenomenally generous. Not only in terms of their time and effort but in terms of putting us in touch with other people.”
The Austin screening has also attracted the attention of journalists in the national news media, some of whom intend to cover the opening. Additionally, noted Waco expert Dick J. Reavis, who authored this piece for The Austin Chronicle, will be present for signings of his book The Ashes of Waco at the screenings this Friday and Saturday night at the Dobie. Producers Dan Gifford and Amy Sommer Gifford will be in attendance as well. More information and reviews can also be found on the film’s website: http://www.waco93.com/. — Marjorie Baumgarten
This article appears in May 2 • 1997 and May 2 • 1997 (Cover).