HOLLYWOOD — A film exposing the US military's torture of terror suspects at its facilities in Afghanistan has received the coveted Oscar for best documentary .

"This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, a young Afghan driver and my father a Navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury at what was being done to the rule of law," filmmaker Alex Gibney told the much-coveted awarding ceremony.

The "Taxi to the Dark Side" features the death of Dilawar,22, at the US Bagram base in 2002 after being tortured by US military interrogators.

It shows how Dilawar was repeatedly kicked, punched and chained to the ceiling of his cell for days even after his interrogators reached the conclusion he was not guilty.

Gibney persuaded several high-ranking officials to talk in his film about the use of torture in US detention centers.

"I think they were motivated to speak out because they felt their voices weren't being heard in the corridors of power," he said.

Movies about war, torture and sickness competed for the coveted Oscar for best documentary.

"No End in Sight" documents how the military strategy of a few powerful men led to a deepening conflict, while "Operation Homecoming" puts soldiers' poignant writings about combat and loss on film.

The Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry worldwide.

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood .

Self-defeating

Gibney said he was motivated by a series of US military torture scandals uncovered by the American media.

"My wife Anne was hoping I'd make a romantic comedy, but honestly, after Guantanamo , Abu Ghraib, extraordinary rendition that simply wasn't possible."

In 2004, American newspapers published shocking photos taken on mobile and digital cameras by US soldiers of tortured Iraqi prisoners in notorious Abu Ghraib.

Some of the photos showed detainees piled up naked on the floor, cowering in front of snarling military dogs, chained to beds in stress positions, with women's underwear put over their heads, and forced to stand naked in front of female guards.

The US press also revealed that since 9/11 terror attacks, the CIA has repeatedly kidnapped and illegally transferred terror suspects to countries notorious for using torture in interrogations.

Gibney hopes his movie would push the US to abandon such brutal techniques.

"Let's hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and go back to the light."

He maintains that democracy not detention centers would undermine extremism worldwide.

In a study published last October, the Oxford Research Group (ORG) concluded that US interrogation techniques have fueled not undermined extremism.

It noted that the mass detentions without trial of tens of thousands of people, widespread torture, prisoner abuse and extraordinary rendition have played into the hands of extremists and their propaganda war.

"If you study Osama Bin Laden's words, if you study other terrorist groups throughout history, the goal is to get liberal democratic societies to publicly undermine their own principles," said Gibney.

"Well, in this case? Mission accomplished."