The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

Directors:

Mat Whitecross
Michael Winterbottom

Release Date:

9 March 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

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:

Guantanamo | Prison | Interrogation | Wedding | Torture

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Riz Ahmed	...	Shafiq
Farhad Harun	...	Ruhel
Waqar Siddiqui	...	Monir
Afran 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)
Asif Iqbal	...	Himself
Shafiq Rasul	...	Himself
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Christopher Fosh	...	Guard #7 - Guantanamo (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
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
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 Post Productions 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 to

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 Finance  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

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:

The film was shot in DV.

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)

A shocking story told exceedingly well. (In my opinion!)

This docu-drama focuses on the story of the 'Tipton Three' - young guys from Birmingham who went to Pakistan to organise a wedding, decided to pop over to Afghanistan (I can only assume through naivety, ignorance and a misguided sense of adventure) to 'help' (though it appeared that little effort was made) and ended up getting embroiled in the conflict, captured with Taliban fighters and subsequently picked up by US Marines for the crime of speaking English in a foreign country. From this point 'til their release, they are essentially told that they are Al Qaeda in the hope that they'll admit to what is obviously not true.

If you can put yourself in their places, this is a harrowing film. (I spent a lot of it with my hand over my mouth...!) Being in a situation where you are being bullied and tortured - via some truly horrible methods and treatment - into admitting you're something you're not, with no means of proving your innocence must be...well, I can only imagine. I have every respect with the way they seemed to deal with it, especially given the candid way they discuss it in the documentary inserts that regularly appear throughout the movie.

For those who think it's unbalanced: I understand. However, it is THEIR story. Certain troops are shown in a human light, though let's face it: from what the film tells us, we're dealing with a situation involving the US equivalent of the SS… You want the other side of the story? Listen to any George W. Bush press conference.

The acting is natural, the story flows, some of the shots are dramatically documentary-like and I felt that it fully deserved the praise it's received. Sadly, I feel that the only people who will watch this are the ones who are aware of the issues already, while middle-America will, I dare say, completely ignore it. Either way, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend spending 95 minutes of your time taking it all in. Sleeping afterwards might be a problem though. It was for me.