Through the lens of German director Andreas Dresen, the Berlin International Film Festival, known as the Berlinale, today shows the injustices committed at the Guantánamo naval base, Cuban territory illegally occupied by the United States.
Under the title Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bushthe film recreates the experiences of the prisoner Murat Kurnaz, who remained imprisoned in the US base, between 2002 and 2006, without any accusation against him.
According to Dresen, the interest in this story arose when Kurnaz was released from prison, was aware of the interviews broadcast on television and read his book: Five Years of My Life, which shocked the director.
The film takes as its guiding thread the perspective of the inmate’s mother (Rabiye), a woman who fought for her son until she brought him back to Germany, and whose story brings hope in the midst of the cruelty suffered by Kurnaz.
Rabiye is someone you could generally call an ordinary woman, but when it comes to looking after her children she possesses impressive strength, details the Berlinale website while recalling the events that marked Murat’s fate.
“Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Kurnaz is accused of terrorism and sent to the Guantánamo prison camp, which propels the journey to the heart of world politics for the German-Turkish woman”, notes the presentation of the audiovisual.
Together with the human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke, played by Alexander Scheer, the mother (Meltem Kaptan) fights for the release of her son until reaching the Supreme Court in Washington, United States.
Included in the competition section of the 72nd edition of the Festival, the film competes together with 17 other deliveries for one of the Bears of the contest, whose winners will be announced on February 16.
Until the 20th of this month, the event takes place, which on this occasion implements strict sanitary protocols to avoid contagion by Covid-19, while developing a parallel agenda on virtual platforms.
