Oath, The

Synopsis: Two men who were part of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network look back on their past in this documentary from director Laura Poitras. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Abu Jandal was one of bin Laden’s bodyguardsn and helped recruit Salim Hamdan, who served as bin Laden’s personal driver. Jandal was able to escape prosecution and fled to Yemen, where he now makes a living driving a taxi. Jandal still regards America as a sworn enemy, but also views his days in Al-Qaeda with little nostalgia, and he anticipates no hopeful future before him. Jandal also feels deep regret over the fate of Hamdan, who ended up in the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay and was tried as a terrorist, despite his insistence he was bin Laden’s chauffeur and nothing more. Hamdan’s family and legal team struggle on his behalf without any illusions about his likely fate, and when Jandal speaks out to the press in his old friend’s defence, Hamdan sends him a sharply worded letter asking him to stop.
Language: Arabic (Yemen)
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2010
Notes: In Arabic with English subtitles
Subjects: Arabic studies; Politics & government
Keywords: terrorism; Guantanamo Bay; war on terror; Al-Qaeda

Name: Dogwoof Pictures
Email: oli@dogwoofpictures.com
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Notes: Dogwoof is an independent distributor specialising in quality films from around the world that raise awareness, trigger change, and get people involved. The main focus is socially conscious films including THE AGE OF STUPID, THE END OF THE LINE, BURMA VJ and BLACK GOLD. Sale on DVD. In Autumn 2011 Dogwoof launched Popup Cinema (http://popupcinema.net/) to allow non-theatric screenings of their just-released and classic titles.

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British Universities Film & Video Council