Waco
The Rules of Engagement

“…Waco joins the honorably long list of American documentaries that examine governmental actions…” – The New Republic

“Two thumbs way up!” -- Siskel & Ebert

“… a doozy of an investigative expose!” – The New York Times

This Emmy Award-winning and Oscar nominated documentary is an incredibly powerful examination of the events that led up to the fiery demise of the Davidian Branch Compound that took the lives of seventy men, women and children. Through meticulous research and interviews with both survivors and government authorities, the film reveals how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), the FBI, and the Department of Justice waged an unjustified war against Koresh and his sect and intentionally misled the public about what happened.

The standoff began on February 28, 1993 when the ATF turned the raid into a shootout. Each side claimed that the other started firing first. This question may never be completely answered since the metal door through which the first shots may have been fired – and which would have shown the direction of the bullets, mysteriously disappeared in the aftermath.

The media labeled the Branch Davidian sect as dangerous and subversive fanatics, but the survivors who testify in Waco: The Rules of Engagement reveal a different story. Through these testimonies and analyses from academics and government authorities, the film examines how sect members perceived this sudden persecution and how the FBI fumbled attempts to negotiate with them. Ironically, the tactics the government used to force the Davidians surrender, played into the sect members apocalyptic vision of their own fate.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement leads viewers through the events from the inception to the tragic inferno of April 19, 1993. Utilizing news footage, excerpts from congressional hearings and the most damaging evidence of all… the heat-sensitive infrared tapes which at least two independent analysts assert show the Branch Davidians were shot at with automatic weapons as they tried to escape the burning buildings.

Filmed by FBI surveillance aircraft from an altitude of approximately 2 miles, a video was shot utilizing an infrared camera designed to detect heat sources, including incendiary devices and bursts of weapon fire on the ground. Known as FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared), this technology was widely used in the Persian Gulf to detect enemy tanks and installations. The military refers to FLIR as a form of “night vision.” Some 90 minutes of FLIR tape shows events not recorded by TV news cameras, which were positioned more than a mile away from the compound and only afforded a distant view of the front of the compound building.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement is a disturbing account of how those in power and the media misinformed the American public. It also shows how people perceived as “different” are vulnerable in present day society.

Visit www.waco93.com for more information

[US; 1996; 90 and 136 minute versions available]