On November 8, 2009, Andy Worthington gave a talk on his new documentary film, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.
Andy Worthington is a freelance journalist and historian. Has writes regularly for newspapers and websites including the Guardian, the Future of Freedom Foundation, Cageprisoners, the Daily Star, Lebanon, the Huffington Post, Antiwar.com, CounterPunch, AlterNet, and ZNet.
An Evening with Andy Worthington - "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo" from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo.
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NEW FILM: Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo
Andy Worthington
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January 24, 2010 New film launches October 2009As featured on Democracy Now!, ABC News and Truthout. Buy the DVD here."Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" is a new documentary film, directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, telling the story of Guantánamo (and including sections on extraordinary rendition and secret prisons) with a particular focus on how the Bush administration turned its back on domestic and international laws, how prisoners were rounded up in Afghanistan and Pakistan without adequate screening (and often for bounty payments), and why some of these men may have been in Afghanistan or Pakistan for reasons unconnected with militancy or terrorism (as missionaries or humanitarian aid workers, for example). The film is based around interviews with former prisoners (Moazzam Begg and, in his first major interview, Omar Deghayes, who was released in December 2007), lawyers for the prisoners (Clive Stafford Smith in the UK and Tom Wilner in the US), and journalist and author Andy Worthington, and also includes appearances from Guantánamo’s former Muslim chaplain James Yee, Shakeel Begg, a London-based Imam, and the British human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce. Focusing on the stories of three particular prisoners — Shaker Aamer (who is still held), Binyam Mohamed (who was released in February 2009) and Omar Deghayes — "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" provides a powerful rebuke to those who believe that Guantánamo holds "the worst of the worst" and that the Bush administration was justified in responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 by holding men neither as prisoners of war, protected by the Geneva Conventions, nor as criminal suspects with habeas corpus rights, but as "illegal enemy combatants" with no rights whatsoever. For further information, interviews, or to inquire about broadcasting, distributing or showing "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo," please contact Andy Worthington or Polly Nash. "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" is a Spectacle Production (74 minutes, 2009), and copies of the DVD are now available. ScreeningsOctober 21, 2009: The UK launch of "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo"The Cochrane Theatre, Southampton Row, London WC1. With Moazzam Begg, Omar Deghayes, Andy Worthington and Polly Nash. This event was in association with Cageprisoners and the Guantánamo Justice Centre (also see here). See here for photos from the launch. November 4 to November 13, 2009: The US launch of "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" Thursday November 5, 9-11 pm: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. Followed by Q&A. Screening at Soho House, 29-35 Ninth Avenue, New York. Introduced by Karen Greenberg, Director, The Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. This event was sponsored by the Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. Friday November 6, 8 pm: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, Followed by Q&A. Screening at Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor, New York. With special guest Tina Foster (International Justice Network, Bagram habeas litigation) and moderator Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can’t Wait. This event was sponsored by Alwan for the Arts and The World Can’t Wait. Saturday November 7, 4:30-6:30 pm: An Afternoon with Andy Worthington, hosted by The World Can’t Wait. The Art Club, 100 Reade Street, Tribeca, New York. Selections from "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo" and a chance to meet Andy Worthington, and to benefit the work of The World Can’t Wait in stopping the US torture state. This event was sponsored by The World Can’t Wait and Have Art Will Travel. Sunday November 8, 5.30 to 9 pm: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. With introductory talk and post-screening Q&A. The Auld Shebeen Irish Pub, 3971 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA, 22030. This event was sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation. Monday November 9, 4 pm: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. Followed by Q&A. New America Foundation, 1899 L St, NW Suite 400, Washington, 20036. With special guests Tom Wilner and David Cynamon, and moderator Peter Bergen. This event was sponsored by the New America Foundation. Tuesday November 10, 7 pm: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. Followed by Q&A. North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Avenue (at Martin Luther King Jr. Way), Berkeley, California. This event was sponsored by The World Can’t Wait. Wednesday November 11, 12 noon: Film screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. Followed by Q&A. University of San Francisco School of Law, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. Introduced by Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg. This event was sponsored by the University of San Francisco School of Law. Andy’s visit to the US was sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation and The World Can’t Wait. Reports on the trip are available here and here, and a video of Andy’s talk before one of the events is here. Sunday November 22, 6 pm: Second London screening – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo. Followed by Q&A. The Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, off Leicester Square. With Omar Deghayes, Andy Worthington and Polly Nash. This was a double bill with "Gitmo: The New Rules of War" (2005) at 4 pm, and the event was organized by organized by Dochouse, based at Riverside Studios, which was formed to support and promote documentary in the UK, and, since 2002, has been showcasing the best documentary films from around the globe, with screenings and events in cinemas across London. About the directors and the production companyAndy Worthington is a journalist, and the author of three books, including The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (Pluto Press). Visit his website here.Polly Nash is a lecturer at the London College Of Communication (LCC), part of the University of the Arts, London, and has worked in film and TV for 20 years. Core funding for the film was provided by LCC. Spectacle is an independent television production company specializing in documentary, community-led investigative journalism and participatory media. Spectacle programs have been broadcast across Europe, Australia and Canada and have won international awards. Visit their website here. For excerpts and extras, follow the links on the Spectacle website, and a short trailer is available here. Feedback"'Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo’ is very engaging and moving, and personal. The first film to really take you through the lives of the men through their own eyes."Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can’t Wait And these were some comments after the UK launch: The film was brilliantly powerful — both understated and shocking. All night I have had the images in my head and thoughts of these men who, even when released, can’t contact their families. I hate to admit I had no idea about extraordinary rendition — you have lifted the lid on a world that far too many people, like myself, find too easy to avoid. From Saleyah Ahsan, journalist and filmmaker: I have just returned from a rather extraordinary evening. I attended the film premiere of Andy Worthington and Polly Nash’s film "Outside the Law" — a feature length documentary about Guantánamo. I urge you all to see it. Please do and then when you have seen it pass it on to your friends and family. I have not seen anything at all that compares to understanding the magnitude of what has been happening in Guantánamo and Bagram. After seeing this film and then staying for the Q&A, which featured the film makers, as well as former detainees Omar Deghayes and Moazzam Begg, I was moved, inspired and angered beyond any other event I have been to. People left the venue with changed opinions, far better informed and shocked. Once again please do try and get to a screening. And this from The Osterley Times blog: The film was intense and powerful, mostly because it did not attempt in any way to emotionalise the story it was laying out before us. [Andy] Worthington, Clive Stafford Smith and others simply told the story of how the US abandoned habeas corpus and found itself in a kind of war with its own legal system, whilst [Moazzam] Begg and [Omar] Deghayes told the tale of what it was like to be on the receiving end of this historic aberration of justice.  Andy’s book The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison is published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK. To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, published in March 2009, and if you appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation. |
:: Article nr. 62526 sent on 24-jan-2010 20:36 ECT
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Link: www.andyworthington.co.uk/outside-the-law-stories-from-guantanamo/
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