Venable is pleased to announce that The Response has been named the 2009 winner of the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award for Drama and Literature. The Silver Gavel Award is the ABA's highest honor in recognition of media and the arts that foster public understanding of the law and the legal system.
The Response was written and produced by Venable attorney Sig Libowitz, and executive produced by Venable in association with The University of Maryland School of Law. The courtroom drama joins Twelve Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and Judgment at Nuremberg in receiving the prestigious ABA award.
The Response is based, in part, on declassified transcripts of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) held on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and stars, in addition to Mr. Libowitz, Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager), Peter Riegert (Animal House, The Sopranos) and Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).
The film, which has been accepted into seven Academy Award qualifying festivals, will next screen in DC on May 8th at the Landmark E Street Theater (at 5:30 pm) as part of the upcoming "Politics on Film" festival with the stars of the film in attendance.
Tickets can be purchased at the E-street Cinema, or by going online at www.politicsonfilm.com. Click on ticket information at the top right of the page.
On July 1, the ABA will recognize this year's Silver Gavel winners, including The Response, during an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. will present the awards and Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and senior analyst for CNN Worldwide (as well as winner of last year's Silver Gavel for Best Book), is the featured speaker.