Director: Do more on sexual assault in the military

Kirby Dick is an Academy and Emmy Award-nominated documentary director. His most recent Emmy-nominated film, “Outrage,” is a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of powerful closeted politicians and the political and media institutions that protect them. In 2006, he directed “This Film is Not Yet Rated,” a breakthrough investigation of the highly secretive Motion Picture Association of America film ratings system. Dick’s film “Twist of Faith,” about a man confronting the trauma of his past sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Dick’s other films include, “Derrida,” a complex portrait of the world-renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida, and the internationally acclaimed “Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist.” Kirby Dick’s latest film, “The Invisible War,” is a 2013 Academy Award nominee. A groundbreaking investigation of the epidemic of sexual assault in the military, “The Invisible War” has been circulating through the highest levels of the Pentagon and the administration since it premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

ROBIN BRONK: If you had five minutes in the Oval Office with President Obama, what would you discuss with him? What issue would you like him to know about?

KIRBY DICK: I would show him the trailer for my film, “The Invisible War,” which reveals that over 19,000 men and women are sexually assaulted in the U.S. military each year. Then I’d ask him to mention this issue in his upcoming State of the Union speech.

RB: If you could ask the president one question, what would that be?

KD: I’d ask him to tell me what he’s going to do to protect these women and men who are risking their lives to protect us.

RB: What piece of advice would you give President Obama as he settles into his second term in office?

KD: I’d advise him to take the decision to investigate and prosecute sexual assault crimes out of the chain of command, and put it in the hands of professionally trained military prosecutors who have no direct relationship to the prosecutor or victim. Currently, the prosecution of these crimes is rife with conflicts of interest, which is why so many serial predators are never charged or convicted, allowing them to go on and assault more men and women in the military.

RB: If you were going to send the president to one of your favorite places in the United States for one day, where would that be? Why?

KD: Big Sur, Calif., the southern part.

RB: What piece of music would you recommend that the president add to his collection? Why?

KD: The opera, “Nixon in China,” by John Adams, about [Richard] Nixon’s trip to China. It might be a welcome relief for him to immerse himself in the comically presented experiences of another president for a few hours and forget about the day-to-day grind of his current job.

RB: Would you ever consider a political career?

KD: No. Not enough skeletons in the closet to make it interesting.

Robin Bronk is CEO of The Creative Coalition — the leading national, nonprofit, nonpartisan public advocacy organization of the entertainment industry. Bronk is a frequent speaker on the role of the entertainment industry in public advocacy campaigns and represents The Creative Coalition and its legislative agenda before members of Congress and the White House. She produced the feature film “Poliwood,” airing on Showtime, and edited the recently published book Art & Soul. Bronk pens this weekly column with assistance from Risa Kotek.