The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

Directors:

Mat Whitecross
Michael Winterbottom

Release Date:

9 March 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama | War

Plot:

Part drama, part documentary, The Road to Guantánamo focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge.

Plot Keywords:

American | Terrorist | Guantanamo | Guantanamo Bay | Pakistan

Awards:

4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Riz Ahmed	...	Shafiq
Farhad Harun	...	Ruhel
Waqar Siddiqui	...	Monir
Arfan Usman	...	Asif Iqbal
Shahid Iqbal	...	Zahid
Sher Khan	...	Sher Khan
Jason Salkey	...	Military Interrogator Sheberghan
Jacob Gaffney	...	Kandahar Interregator #1
Mark Holden	...	Kandahar Interrogator #2
Duane Henry	...	Guard #1
William Meredith	...	Guard #2
Payman Bina	...	Guard #3
Adam James	...	SAS Interrogator
James Buller	...	MI5
Mark Sproston	...	Embassy Man
Nancy Crane	...	Interrogator #1
Ewan Bailey	...	Interrogator #2
Martin McDougall	...	Interrogator #3
Naser Ranjha	...	Interrogator #4
Justin Lynch	...	Interrogator #5
Sara Stewart	...	Interrogator #6
Demetri Goritsas	...	Interrogator #7
James McNeill	...	Interrogator #8
Sasha Pick	...	Interrogator #9
Steven Beckingham	...	Camp X-Ray Guard #1
Brian Flaherty	...	Guard #2 (Guantanamo)
Jason Schams	...	Guard #3 (Guantanamo)
Andre Pitts	...	Guard #4 (Guantanamo)
Justin Thomson	...	Guard #5 (Guantanamo)
Tom Whitecross	...	Guard #6 (Guantanamo)
Kieran O'Brien	...	Voice Over
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ruhel Ahmed	...	Himself
Osama bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Tony Blair	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Christopher Fosh	...	Guard #7 (uncredited)
Asif Iqbal	...	Himself (uncredited)
Shafiq Rasul	...	Himself (uncredited)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Mat Whitecross
Michael Winterbottom

Produced by
Andrew Eaton	....	producer
Michael Elliott	....	line producer: Iran (as Mike Elliott)
Melissa Parmenter	....	producer
Lee Thomas	....	executive producer
Michael Winterbottom	....	producer

Original Music by
Harry Escott
Molly Nyman

Cinematography by
Marcel Zyskind		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mat Whitecross
Michael Winterbottom

Casting by
Wendy Brazington

Production Design by
Mark Digby

Makeup Department
Mehdi Habibipur	....	makeup artist: Iran (as Mehdi Habibi Pour)
Morteza Mortaghi	....	makeup artist: Iran

Production Management
Ali Reza Haghshenas	....	production manager: Iran
Josh Hyams	....	production manager
Najibullah Razaq	....	production manager: Afghhanistan
Ghorban Sadeghi	....	production manager: Iran
Ali Reza Samiei	....	production manager: Iran
Shahin Shahbazzadeh	....	production manager: Iran

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Elliott	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Nick Adams	....	sound effects editor
Jeremy Adamson	....	additional sound effects editor
Tim Alban	....	foley supervisor
Richard Davey	....	dubbing mixer
Richard Davey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jennie Evans	....	sound effects editor
James Hamilton	....	foley recordist
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer
James Seddon	....	dolby consultant
Joakim Sundström	....	sound designer
Joakim Sundström	....	supervising sound editor
Jessie Taylor	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Chris Treble	....	foley editor
Stuart Wilson	....	sound mixer
Nick Woolwich	....	sound recording engineer
Paul Wrightson	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
Mohsen Ruzbahani	....	special effects: Iran (as Mohsen Roozbehani)
Reza Turkaman	....	special effects assistant: Iran

Visual Effects by
Adam Garner	....	visual effects artist
Dan Sollis	....	visual effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Philip Fisk	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Julie Dunne	....	additional casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mehdi Faragi	....	costume assistant: Iran
Esmaeil Maghsoudi	....	costume supervisor: Iran

Editorial Department
Chris Beeton	....	digital intermediate colorist: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.
Michelle Camp	....	digital intermediate producer: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.
Richard Cradick	....	on-line editor: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.
Michael Groom	....	post-production assistant
Pete Harrow	....	digital intermediate asset manager: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.
Scott Hinchcliffe	....	on-line editor: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.

Music Department
Isobel Griffiths	....	orchestra contractor
Jimmy Robertson	....	music mix engineer
Harry Varsani	....	musician: dhol and tabla

Transportation Department
Rasul Hosseini	....	driver: Iran

Other crew
Ramin Ahmadzadeh	....	translator: Iran
Reno Antoniades	....	legal services: Lee & Thompson
Mohammed Arsalan	....	fixer: Pakistan
Seyed Rahim Bathaei	....	translator: Iran
Rachel Clark	....	production assistant
Nicky Coats	....	production accountant
Annie Derbaseghian	....	production secretary: Iran
Hasein Dordoee	....	production assistant: Iran
Graham Easton	....	completion guarantor: Film Finances Inc.
Amir Farvardin	....	production assistant: Iran
Jethro Harris	....	head of film: Pepper Ltd.
Gholam Reza Heydarijo	....	caterer: Iran
Hamid Reza Heydarijo	....	caterer: Iran
Fiona McGuire	....	head of production: Revolution Films
Stephen Nex	....	assistant: Michael Winterbottom and Andrew Eaton
Yaser Nicksima	....	production assistant: Iran
Imran Paracha	....	fixer: Pakistan
Abdul Manan Paryan	....	advisor: security, Afghanistran
Linda Pather	....	completion guarantor: Film Finances Inc.
Helen Phelps	....	head of sales: Pepper Post Productions Ltd.
Ramtin Ramezani	....	production assistant: Iran
Lee Stone	....	legal services: Lee & Thompson
Milan Tawade	....	travel arranger: The Travel Company
Lisa Wedgbury	....	production assistant
Vanessa Whyte	....	production assistant
Reza Zarechian	....	translator: Iran

Thanks
Marese Langan	....	special thanks
Tessa Ross	....	very special thanks

Production Companies

• Film4
• Revolution Films
• Screen West Midlands

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• CTV International (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Channel Four Films (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Falcom Media (2006) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Roadside Attractions (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Amazonia Films (2006-2014) (Venezuela) (all media)
• Channel 4 Television Corporation (2006) (UK) (TV)
• Prooptiki (2006) (Greece) (all media)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2007) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Capitol FX (laser subtitling)

Other Companies

• AP Television  archival footage
• Air Studios  strings recorded at
• Al Jazeera Satellite Channel  archival footage (as Aljazeera)
• Alex Rose Wig Company  special thanks
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  archival footage (as BBC)
• Central Station Technicolour  titles and captions designer
• Clarity Post Production Sound  sound post-production
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Goldcrest Post Production London  sound re-recorded at
• ITFC  translations
• ITN Archive  archival footage
• Lee & Thompson  legal services
• Limehouse Recordings  sound post-production
• Media Insurance Brokers  insurance services (as Media Insurance)
• Nessie Green Ltd.  translation services
• Pepper Post Production  digital intermediate post-production (as Pepper)
• Pierce Rooms  music mixed at
• Sapex Scripts  post-production services
• Soho Images  film laboratory services
• Technicolor  digital transfer
• The Travel Company  travel

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and disturbing violent content

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Urdu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-15 | Hungary:16 | Sweden:11 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Australia:MA | Italy:T | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Afghanistan

Company:

Film4

Trivia:

Two of the actors (Riz Ahmed and Farhad Harun) and two of the ex-detainees were detained temporary and interrogated at the airport by the British police when they returned from the Berlinale-festival where the movie got the Silver Bear. According to BBC-news Ahmed said he was asked if he intended to make any more political films.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When one of the "detainees" is first brought into the interrogation tent, a guard accidentally lifts the man's shirt, revealing the wire of a remote microphone.

Quotes:

Shafiq:[rapping to an American guard] My name's Shafiq Rasul, and I'm from Tipton, I tell them I ain't Taliban, but they don't wanna listen. You won't believe I just came out here, for my mate's wedding, do you? I never thought my ass, would be heading for Cuba.

Movie Connections:

References Back to the Future (1985)

An absolute must-see

Even if a third of what the Tipton Three alleged to have happened to them is true, that should outrage all Americans.

But since there seems to be this belief - perpetuated by Dubya and his cronies - that this administration is somehow doing all this to protect us Americans from the bad guys, there is no outrage that we torture prisoners, hold them without charges or access to counsel, deprive them of civil liberties, all in the name of security. What poppycock!

Michael Winterbottom's film does not answer an important question - exactly what kind of "help" were these three chaps going to provide in Afghanistan? However, what happened to them should embarrass all of us.

Our foreign policy is so dumb - we prohibit trade with and travel to Cuba because it's a communist nation, but have no qualms about trading with or allowing travel to China and Vietnam - and our leaders so hypocritical.

Dubya claims to have freed Iraq from a brutal dictator (who, incidentally, was someone we supported not too long ago, when Dubya's dad was veep, to be exact, and Rummy was shaking hands with Saddam), and yet the people running Iraq today seem no better. They're still torturing people, violent militias carry out retribution killings, and our leaders stick their heads in the sand and say everything's alright.

"The Road to Guantanamo" is shot as a pseudo-documentary. The Tipton Three are portrayed as likable lugs who got caught up in something they never intended. There's an element of black comedy to all this - they keep their senses of humor as they recount the horrible, distasteful and despicable manner in which they're treated.

That we would have had an American pretending to be British to try and coerce these three men doesn't surprise me in the least. After all, it turns out Dubya considered painting the UN logo on a plane to tempt Saddam to shoot it down so we could have a reason to wage war. (Gulf of Tonkin, anyone?)

This is an incredibly difficult, at times harrowing, film to watch. There are those of us who still, foolishly perhaps, believe in the American ideal. A nation that stands for human rights and decent treatment of prisoners. But, I know, reality is far different. We have a Supreme Court justice who scoffs at giving Gitmo prisoners their day in court and a government that believes the Geneva Conventions are antiquated.

We apparently want to show the world we're the beacon of freedom and treat everyone - including alleged criminals - with certain rights, such as due process. And that's what we're trying to instill in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, in practice, we do exactly the opposite.

"The Road to Guantanmo" works because Winterbottom never lets go, never eases up to allow us to feel comfortable. Watching what happens to the Tipton Three is awfully disquieting. It is shameful that we behave like this. What's more worrisome is there seems to be such a lack of outrage among Americans that we're doing this. This administration (and its blowhard allies) have done such a wonderful job convincing Americans that speaking out against their policies is tantamount to being unpatriotic.

I realize many will reject Winterbottom's film because it doesn't cast the United States in all honorable light. It shows how vicious, uncaring and brutal we are, even though our leaders continue to deny everything.

I can only hope that years from now, we will be thoroughly ashamed of how our government treated people in the war on terror, just as we now feel shame for how we treated Japanese-Americans during WWII.

"The Road to Guantanamo" is an important film. I hope now that it has an American distributor, more people will be exposed to it. I am sure the right-wing demagogues will attack it as anti-American and tell us that seeing it would be unpatriotic. (Then again, I don't need OxyContin to function daily.)

The MPAA banned the initial poster for this film because it depicted a man with his wrists tied and a burlap sack over his head and that apparently is too much for our children to see. It's quite alright expose kids to horror-movie posters, but letting them see depictions of some of the despicable acts of our government is bad?

Because of AMPAS' dumb rules, I am certain this film won't be eligible for any Oscars. (It already has been shown on TV in the UK and is available on DVD there.) But "The Road to Guantanamo" must be seen by as many Americans as possible. You watch it and wonder, where has all our decency gone?