‘The Report’ Director Fights Back After Secretary Of State Calls The Film “Fiction”

Whenever a filmmaker takes on a historical event for a film, there’s the chance that those familiar with the situation might call facts into question. Surely, over the course of crafting a story, writers and directors take it upon themselves to streamline information and alter some events to make for a better, more coherent film. But in the case of writer-director Scott Z. Burns and his awards contender “The Report,” the filmmaker is unsure why anyone would ever think the film is “fiction.”

According to a tweet from Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo, that’s exactly what “The Report” is — fiction. After viewing the film, the Secretary went to social media to not only call out Burns’ film but to reaffirm his support for the CIA and the “intelligence warriors” that he feels are being attacked in the film.

READ MORE: Filmmaker Scott Z. Burns Talks How Sundance Film ‘The Report’ Is A Criticism Of CIA-Approved ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Pompeo tweeted, “I watched “The Report.” Fiction. To be clear: the bad guys are not our intelligence warriors. The bad guys are the terrorists. To my former colleagues and all of the patriots at @CIA who have kept us safe since 9/11: America supports you, defends you and has your back. So do I.”

For those not familiar with “The Report,” the film stars Adam Driver as a staffer at the Senate Intelligence Committee that is investigating the use of torture by the CIA in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Of course, Secretary Pompeo is the former CIA Director from 2017 to 2018 and feels personally connected to the story of the film.

Well, it didn’t take long for Burns to release a statement about the Pompeo situation (via Deadline). And in his statement, the filmmaker doesn’t back down from the information presented in “The Report” and challenges Pompeo to go back and read the actual report compiled by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

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“I am grateful to Secretary of State Pompeo for taking the time to watch ‘The Report’ movie on Amazon Prime,” said Burns. “I hope he will go back and read the [Senate Select Committee on Intelligence] report as well. I am interested in knowing what part he finds to be fiction and I ask him to join me in calling for the release of the Panetta Review which the CIA conducted into the [enhanced interrogation technique] program so that this dispute can be resolved.”

He continued, “I agree with him that terrorists are bad guys— as are the people who conducted barbaric and ineffective acts of torture in the name of Mr. Pompeo’s misguided notion of ‘Patriotism’ and then misled Congress and the American people.”

Those who want to watch “The Report” for themselves can stream the film now on Amazon Prime Video.