14/02/2006

Three years after Golden Bear winner In This World, incredibly prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom is back in Berlin with The Road To Guantanamo [+see also:
trailer
film profile], co-directed with Mat Whitecross, another political docu-drama that premiered today in Berlin’s official competition.

This time at the heart of the director’s cinematic journey is the so-called Tipton Three case, the story of three British Muslims who were released in March 2004 after being held for two years at Guantanamo Bay prison camp. The pure challenge of making a film about the case with the help of the three men in question was warmly applauded at the press conference, attended by two of the ex-prisoners, Ruhel Ahmed and Asif Iqbal.

Mixing testimonies from the Tipton Three with news footage and dramatic recreation of the events, the filmmakers take the audience immediately into the heart of the story. We follow the youngsters of Pakistani origin on their journey from Pakistan to Afghanistan (where they were arrested and mistaken for Taliban fighters) to Guantanamo. “We just wanted to show how three ordinary, normal people got caught up in this extraordinary story,” said Winterbottom, “and what it was like from their point of view”. The whole reason for making the film in the first place was “to remind people that Guantanamo exists and that 500 people are still detained”.

Unfortunately, in spite of a fascinating and thrilling subject matter, the film doesn't quite deliver in dramatic terms and some parts of the film – the flashbacks of the boys remembering scenes of their previous lives as free men – could have been avoided.

The film was produced by Winterbottom's usual production partner Andrew Eaton for their outfit Revolution Films and was originally commissioned by Channel Four. The film will air first on the UK channel on March 9 and will then open in 20-30 theatres on March 10, thanks to the support from UK exhibitor Tony Jones. International sales on the film are being handled by The Works .