Waco – The Rules of Engagement

Feature Documentary Film

Waco – The Rules of Engagement

Story

Considered among the top five documentary films ever produced, Waco: The Rules of Engagement was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1997.

Using interviews, news footage, testimony before Congress, and infrared photographic analysis, the film relentlessly chips away at the government’s story that David Koresh and his followers were a dangerous cult involved in strange sex and drug practices who were preparing to slaughter their neighbors and that they immolated themselves à la Jonestown, rather than give themselves up peacefully. Nearly every element of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ and the FBI’s cover-up is exposed as fraudulent and the viewer is left wondering when, if ever, justice will finally be served.

Awards

Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary

Emmy Winner for Best investigative Journalism

Nominated: Oscar, Best Documentary, 1998

Won: IDA Award, Feature Documentary, 1997

Won: Melbourne International Film Festival, Most Popular Documentary, 1998

Won: Vancouver International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature, Honorable Mention, 1997

Won: IDA Award, Feature Documentary, 1997

Won: Atlanta Film Festival, Audience Award

Won: Charleston International Film Festival, Gold Medal

Won: WorldFest Houston, Special Jury Award

Reviews

"Watching William Gazecki's remarkable documentary 'Waco: The Rules of Engagement,'.it is pretty clear, on the basis of this film, that the original raid was staged as a publicity stunt, and the final raid was a government riot--a tragedy caused by uniformed boys with toys."

Roger Ebert

"Gazecki maintains a calm, detached tone throughout, which allows us to judge Branch Davidian leader David Koresh for ourselves."

LA Times Review

"...the production continues to fascinate, jumping between congressional hearings and news footage of the standoff and subsequent siege. The last half hour's use of infrared footage, to support beliefs that the FBI fired directly on the Davidians, will raise yet more eyebrows."

New York Post review

"Two thumbs up for the shocking documentary "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," a special motion"

Siskel & Ebert Review

"Waco: The Rules of Engagement" is a grim, disturbing documentary, but a necessary and important one."

SF Chronicle review

"Instead of appealing directly to the emotions, the film maintains the detached, scholarly tone of a courtroom inquiry."

New York Times review

"Waco: The Rules of Engagement is a documentary with politics as fierce as they are brave, a rare combination in today's blanded-out, ready-for-PBS marketplace."

LA Weekly review

Showings

Starz Encore – True Stories Channel
From April, 2004 through April, 2006
Film Festivals:

Premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 1997

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Amsterdam, Netherlands

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM
Netherlands

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
St. Louis, MO

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen, Denmark

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Portland, Oregon

HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Hong Kong

ATHENS INTERNATIONAL FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL
Athens, OH

SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL
Ontario, Canada

SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Seattle, WA

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL
Sydney, Australia

13th AUKLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
New Zealand

27th WELLINGTON FILM FESTIVAL
New Zealand

THE NEW ZEALAND FILM FESTIVAL
New Zealand

THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Melbourne, Australia

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Austin, TX

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Park City, Utah

SANTA BARBARA FILM FESTIVAL
Santa Barbara, CA

USA FILM FESTIVAL
Dallas, TX

ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL
Atlanta, GA

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
LINCOLN CENTER
New York, NY

THE FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL
Maitland, FL

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
THE MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE
Los Angeles, CA

THE VANCOUVER FILM FESTIVAL
Vancouver, B.C.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
London SW1Y5AH

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Oberlin, OH

THE NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL
New Orleans, LA

HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Springs, AR

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Philadelphia, PA

THE DENVER FILM FESTIVAL
Denver, CO

THE VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Burlington, VT

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
THE VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL
Charlottesville, VA

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL
Huntington, NY

DOCUFEST – LACMA
Los Angeles, CA

THE TURIN FILM FESTIVAL
Turin, Italy

THE FREEDOM FILM FESTIVAL
Los Angeles / Washington D.C.

WACO was shown theatrically in the following cities:

Albuquerque, NM
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Berkeley, CA
Boise, ID
Boulder, CO
Brookline, MA
Cambridge, MA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Chapelle Hill, NC
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Columbia, SC
Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Denver, CO
Hartford, CT
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Huntington NY
Ithaca, NY
Kansas City, MO
Ketchum, ID
Lafayette, CA
Larkspur, CA
Laughlin, NV
Lewiston, ME
Los Angeles CA
Louisville, KY
Manhattan, NY
Mendicino City, CA
Minneapolis, MN
Montgomery, AL
Montreal, CA
Nashville, TN
Nevada City, CA
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Ontario, Canada
Paducha, KY
Petaluma, CA
Pittsburgh, PA
Pocatello, ID
Portland, OR
Rhinebeck, NY
Riverside, CA
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
San Antonio, TX
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Monica CA
Santa Rosa, CA
Saskatchewan, Canada
Sebastopol, CA
St. Louis, MO
Tampa, FL
Tempe, AZ
Toronto, Canada
Tuscon, AZ
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Victoria, B.C., Canada
Waco, TX
Washington, DC
Waterville, ME
Wellesley, MA
West Hollywood, CA
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wilmington, NC

William Gazecki

William Gazecki