Documentary that brings tears ____ 7/10

Directed by Michael Winterbottom

Riz Ahmed …. Shafiq
Farhad Harun …. Ruhel
Waqar Siddiqui …. Monir
Afran Usman …. Asif Iqbal
Shahid Iqbal …. Zahid
Sher Khan …. Sher Khan
Jason Salkey …. Military Interrogator

Road to Guantanamo is the story of three British citizens of Pakistani descent who through a series of accidents and bad coincidences wind up in Taliban-held Afghanistan during the British-American bombing and occupation in the post-911 months of 2001.

Ruhel Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul are 20-year-old devout Moslem men living in England who travel with their friend Monir to Pakistan to attend Asif’s wedding.  After spending a few days of shopping and sightseeing, the friends attend a mosque with Asif’s Pakistani cousin, Zahid.

The Imam inspires them to volunteer to travel to Afghanistan and provide humanitarian aid presumably to the refugees being created in the civil strife with the Taliban on the eve of the invasion  The friends decide to go to Kabul “to help.”  The story finds them set loose in the chaos of the invasion after the bus driver hits and kills a man, then leaves them. Continue reading →