Exposing life in the world’s most famous prison



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Slahi does not want to relive the worst moments of his captivity and has therefore avoided watching the most traumatic scenes of the film. But, now that his book has been made into a major feature film, he thinks it’s a clear example of the pen being mightier than the sword. “I don’t believe in violence, but my whole story was violence against my body, my innocence, my family members and I never did anything in the United States,” he says. “My film is a victory for non-violence, it is a victory for the pen.”

The point, however, is that while many feature films, documentaries, TV shows, books and reports have shown the reality of the prison camp, it remains open. The Obama administration promised to shut it down and failed. Now President Biden has said he intends to shut it down before his first term ends. So with a new president in the Oval Office, Could Le Mauritanien be the Guantánamo Bay film to announce the end of the detention center?

Rahim wants audiences to take away the message of “hope and forgiveness over anger,” while Eviatar says, “every movie that portrays the Guantánamo tragedy, the unfair and often messy way many men have ended up there. -bas and thus put pressure on the US government. to close it is to render an excellent service. “

Slahi, who continues to be denied entry to the US and UK five years after his release from Guantanamo Bay without compensation or apologies, hopes the film will show the Western world that he is an innocent man and that negative perceptions of the Middle East and North African citizens must end.

“I want people to know my side of the story [and] I feel humbled that this has been made into a great movie, ”he says. I have no weapons, I have no police. I don’t have drones to eliminate people but I have my words and I want to debate negative exceptionalism [towards] the Arab world and Africa. We cannot be kidnapped; we cannot be tortured. “

The Mauritian is currently in select theaters in the United States and will be available there on demand from March 2. It will be released in the UK on April 1.

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