“The Road to Guantanamo” wins Best British Documentary
November 30th, 2006 by Zsofia
Michael Winterbottom’s docu-drama “The Road to Guantanamo” won the award for Best British Documentary at last night’s BIFA ceremony in London. The film focuses on a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge.
Plot Synopsis – In 2001, four Pakistani Britons, Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul and another friend, Monir, travel to Pakistan for a wedding, and decide to see the situation of war-torn Afganistan. Once there, with the loss of Monir in the chaos, they are captured by Northern Alliance fighters. They are then handed over to American forces who transport them to the Guantanamo prison. What follows is three years of interrogations and torture to make them submit to false confessions on being terrorists. In the midst of this abuse, the three try to keep their spirits up but barely survive.
The film was broadcast on Channel 4 last year and has won numerous awards, including the Silver Bear for Direction at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. It was released on DVD in October 2006.
British Independent Film Awards
Buy the “Road to Guantanamo” from Amazon.co.uk
The second edition of “Loose Change” is now out out on DVD, for those who want a high-quality version of the provocative 9/11 documentary which has been a Top 100 Google Video success since its first upload in April 2005.
