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Artists Against Torture

The arts start the conversation. When the world is saved—and it really does require saving—the door will be opened through the arts and then the politicians. Then the policies will follow.
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Near the start of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, at a panel titled “Why Art Matters,” veteran television producer Norman Lear answered the question this way: “The arts start the conversation. When the world is saved — and it really does require saving — the door will be opened through the arts and then the politicians. Then the policies will follow.” And so the final day of the film festival saw the start of a national discussion about the Bush administration’s torture program. Robert Redford, Doug Liman, and other filmmakers and artists have united to remind Americans about prisoner abuse.

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