The Hamburg Cell (2004)

A fictionalized account of the September 11 hijackers.

Director:

Antonia Bird

Writers:

Ronan Bennett, Alice Perman

Stars:

Karim Saleh, Maral Kamel, Agni Scott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Karim Saleh	...	Ziad Jarrah
Maral Kamel	...	Mohammed Atta (as Kamel)
Agni Scott	...	Aysel (as Agni Tsangaridou)
Omar Berdouni	...	Ramzi bin al Shibh
Adnan Maral	...	Marwan Shehhi
Kamel Boutros	...	Mohammed Atta (as Kamel)
Tamer Doghem	...	Zacarias Moussaoui
Khalid Laith	...	Abdul Aziz AlOmari
Nasser Memarzia	...	Assem
Omar El-Saeidi	...	Said al Ghamdi
Bassem Breish	...	Yasser
Mark Clifton	...	Flight Simulation Instructor
Navid Navid	...	Salim (as Navíd Akhavan)
Joel Kirby	...	FBI Agent
Clayton Nemrow	...	Pan Am Instructor

Storyline

Ziad Jarrah, a young Lebonese man from a good family goes to Germany to attend college and starts dating a Turkish girl named Aysel. Although not very religious and accustomed to Western ways, Ziad becomes "brothers" with some fundamentalist Muslims and is slowly drawn into becoming "a Good Muslim". Mohamed Atta and others instill Ziad with a hatred of Jews and "Infidels", which leads to a desire for Jihad and martyrdom. He moves to Hamburg to study aeronautical engineering, attends an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, and deceives his girlfriend and family about his involvement. He eventually attends flight school in Florida with Atta and others, waiting for and preparing for "the big wedding" (the 9/11 attack). Meanwhile, US government and law enforcement officials fail to act despite believing that a major terrorist attack is imminent, and despite noticing a number of suspicious persons involved in flight training.

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Plot Keywords:

muslim | terrorist | martyrdom | flight school | hijacker | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Arabic German

Release Date:

10 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

A hamburgi sejt

Filming Locations:

Central Station, St. Georg, Hamburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mentorn Television, Inner Circle Pictures GmbH, Wildgaze Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brooklyn, New York, hardcore band, Most Precious Blood sample this movie at the end of their song "Driving Angry"

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Goofs

They show the Lincoln Memorial and the Capital and list the date as August 2001, but all the trees are bare. In August the trees would be fully leafed and green.

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Quotes

Ziad Jarrah: [On a cell phone] I'm at the departure lounge.
Marwan Shehhi: Me too.
Ziad Jarrah: Our time has come at last...

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Soundtracks

Forsaken
Performed by Bill Anschell Jazz Unit
Written by Bill Anschell

User Reviews

Brainwashed Terrorists

I just saw this movie on cable TV here in Australia and really liked it. It actually gave me goose bumps as it was really eerie. The actors were wonderful and the writing is exemplary as it really gave the story a human face without sympathizing with the act of terrorism. It showed how strange it is in this day and age that grown men can be so brainwashed into thinking that once they commit such a terrible act against humanity that they are going up into Paradise where Virgins are waiting for them. Nowhere in the Koran or the Modern Muslim world would this be accepted. THese terrorists had minds of their own and in no way would be supported by a rational Muslim society. I thought to myself while watching this movie, the Holy Prophet Mohammed would have been disgusted with this act if he were watching from above. The Prophet Mohammed was such a humanitarian that he would not have supported this kind of terrorism in any way.

I hope this movie has shown people the effect of brainwashing and what it can lead to - Just like the David Koresh's of the world or the other Cult leader who had his whole cult commit mass suicide - Brainwashing is the worst thing that can happen to someone. So please let these kinds of movies or acts be a lesson to us all and not let ourselves get caught up in such IGNORANT beliefs and doctrines as to lose our humanity. Peace be upon everyone in the whole world! Now is the time we all need each other - No matter what religion we are!

TAKE CARE EVERYONE!