The Road to Guantanamo (2006) on Netflix
Days after the September 11 attacks, Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, Shafiq Rasul and Monir travel to Pakistan for a wedding. They cross into Afghanistan and are captured by Northern Alliance fighters.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, Shafiq Rasul and their friend Monir set off for Pakistan in September 2001 to attend a wedding, days after the September 11 attacks. Staying at a mosque in Karachi, the four decide to travel into Afghanistan to see the war for themselves. They cross the border in October as American planes bomb Taliban positions, reach Kandahar and then Kabul, and spend nearly a month there before setting out for Pakistan. They board the wrong bus, which carries them north toward the front line. An airstrike hits their convoy, and they wander the country until, near Baghlan, they ask Taliban fighters for help. Northern Alliance soldiers capture them and hand them to American forces, who fly them to a prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Road to Guantanamo (2006)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The torture scenes were toned down for the cast: Riz Ahmed said the actors could not bear the pain and had the shackles on their legs cushioned, and could not hold the stress positions for more than an hour, while the Tipton Three say they were held in them for up to eight hours.
- Four actors in the film, including Riz Ahmed, were detained for about an hour by police at London Luton Airport after returning from its Berlin premiere; Ahmed said officers asked if he became an actor to further the Muslim struggle, and one interrogator tried to recruit him as an informant.
- The Motion Picture Association of America refused the film's original US poster, saying the burlap sack over the detainee's head depicted torture and was inappropriate for young children; distributor Howard Cohen called this inconsistent with approved posters for horror films such as Hard Candy and Hostel.
- The day after its UK television debut on Channel 4, The Road to Guantánamo became the first film to be released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD and on the Internet.
- Iranian authorities asked the film's distributor to release The Road to Guantánamo in Iran, unusual for a Western picture, ordering four prints instead of the usual one and offering three times the normal fee.
- Filming for The Road to Guantánamo took place in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, with Iran doubling as Cuba in the film.
