In Guantanamo x264-VODO

Nov 05

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Guantanamo naval base, “Gitmo”, covers forty five square miles of Cuba inside an area under a controversial ‘permanent lease’ to the United States. Since 2002, the base has become synonymous with its detainment facilities for suspected terrorists. Although Barack Obama has given orders for the detention camp to be closed, the facilities remain open to this day. David Miller’s quiet, powerful film is the result of three days the filmmaker spent touring the camps in May 2008 as part of a small group of media representatives allowed there. Although the event was presented as a chance to ’see inside’ the working of Guantanamo, it was in fact a carefully staged PR exercise designed to yield predictable, stale, controlled media images.

The power of Miller’s film is in its interrogation of the restrictions placed on the journalists and the ridiculous nature of the show presented to them. This film both allows us to learn something about how carefullly the military now produces and controls images, and deftly exposes the ongoing brutality of the camps. The film was shot in conjunction with the journalist Yvonne Ridley to whom the Director would like to express his thanks.