Gitmo (documentary)
Encyclopedia
Gitmo: The new rules of war is a Swedish
documentary
about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by Erik Gandini
and Tarik Saleh
.
The film features interviews with Janis Karpinski
, Mehdi Ghezali
and Geoffrey Miller, among others.
Gitmo premiered at IDFA in 2005, and reached mainstream theaters in Sweden on February 10, 2006.
In 2003, a year after Swedish citizen Mehdi Ghezali
was detained at "Gitmo", which sparked some media interest in Sweden, Erik and Tarik started filming the documentary and visited the base on a guided tour of selected areas.
Mehdi Ghezali was released in 2004, and was interviewed for the film.
In 2006, the musical score composed by Krister Linder
won first prize for music in a TV feature at the Festival international Musique et Cinéma in Auxerre
, France
.
Ghezali was apprehended by Pakistani authorities in August 2009 with a dozen other individuals.
Pakistani security officials claim the travelers planned to travel to Miranshah
, Waziristan
, to meet with a Taliban leader. Ghezali says they were traveling to Lahore
to attend a Tablighi Jamaat
conference.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by Erik Gandini
Erik Gandini
Erik Gandini is an Italian- Swedish film director, producer and writer.He has made several films including: Amerasians, Sacrificio: Who Betrayed Che Guevara?, Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers, Gitmo and Videocracy.Videocracy has gone on to win awards at Toronto Film Festival, Sheffield...
and Tarik Saleh
Tarik Saleh
Tarik Saleh is Swedish television producer, animator, publisher, journalist and film director of Egyptian descent, who in early 90s was one of Sweden's most prominent graffiti artists...
.
The film features interviews with Janis Karpinski
Janis Karpinski
Janis Leigh Karpinski is a central figure in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.Karpinski retired as a colonel in the US Army Reserve. She was demoted from Brigadier General in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal for dereliction of duty, making a material misrepresentation to...
, Mehdi Ghezali
Mehdi Ghezali
Mehdi Muhammed Ghezali , in media previously known as the Cuba-Swede , is a Swedish citizen of Algerian and Finnish descent who was held as what the United States termed an unlawful combatant at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba between January 2002 and July 2004...
and Geoffrey Miller, among others.
Gitmo premiered at IDFA in 2005, and reached mainstream theaters in Sweden on February 10, 2006.
In 2003, a year after Swedish citizen Mehdi Ghezali
Mehdi Ghezali
Mehdi Muhammed Ghezali , in media previously known as the Cuba-Swede , is a Swedish citizen of Algerian and Finnish descent who was held as what the United States termed an unlawful combatant at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba between January 2002 and July 2004...
was detained at "Gitmo", which sparked some media interest in Sweden, Erik and Tarik started filming the documentary and visited the base on a guided tour of selected areas.
Mehdi Ghezali was released in 2004, and was interviewed for the film.
In 2006, the musical score composed by Krister Linder
Krister Linder
Krister Linder is a New York-based Swedish electronic musician.Krister started his music career in 1987 as the vocalist of the Swedish band Grace.Under the name Chris Lancelot, he was the vocalist of the Swedish band Dive from 1990 to 1994....
won first prize for music in a TV feature at the Festival international Musique et Cinéma in Auxerre
Auxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Ghezali was apprehended by Pakistani authorities in August 2009 with a dozen other individuals.
Pakistani security officials claim the travelers planned to travel to Miranshah
Miranshah
Miranshah is the capital or headquarters of North Waziristan in Pakistan. It is the site of a town, which has s small airfield that was built by the British for World War II. The area in which Miranshah sits is extremely dangerous mainly due to Taliban activities and U.S. Drone...
, Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
, to meet with a Taliban leader. Ghezali says they were traveling to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
to attend a Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat is a religious movement which was founded in 1926 by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in India. The movement primarily aims at Tablighi spiritual reformation by working at the grass roots level, reaching out to Muslims across all social and economic spectra to bring them closer to...
conference.