![]() ![]() A number of journalists had previously written about the Mohammad Bin Naif Counseling and Care Center – renamed the Counseling and Care Center since the former crown prince was ousted by Mohammed Bin Salman – a detention facility in Riyadh that, according to the New York Times, has “treated” some 6,000 men, including 137 men transferred there from Guantánamo.īut Smaker seemed to have gone deeper than the tightly controlled media tours of typical journalist delegations. The project, Smaker’s first feature-length film, had attracted attention for its remarkable access. ![]() In the small and tight-knit US documentary world, many had been aware of Jihad Rehab for years before it premiered at Sundance early this year – film-makers routinely pitch the same funds, attend the same retreats, apply for the same fellowships. Smaker, for her part, argues they gave their full consent to participating in the film – but whether that’s indeed the case might depend on your definition of consent. Photograph: Courtesy of Sundance Instituteīut a number of people interviewed by the Guardian – among them documentary film insiders, former Sundance staff, human rights experts and a Guantánamo lawyer who called the film a “propaganda ride” – along with documents describing the film that have been shared with the Guardian, raise complex questions about how the film was made, loose standards in documentary film-making, the long-term effects of US torture and the free will of men transitioning from one deeply oppressive environment to another. ![]() Her supporters say the protests amount to an own goal, that the film treats its subjects with a compassion otherwise missing from the American conversation about Islamic terrorism.Ī still from the film. In recent weeks, Smaker has been the subject of a flattering profile in the New York Times and featured by the National Review, Megyn Kelly, MSNBC and Sam Harris. Now, it’s become a minor cause célèbre for opponents of “wokeness” who paint the protest as an example of cancel culture run amok, an “ angry mob” of “ whinging hysterics” who say white people shouldn’t make films about Muslims. The fallout cost the film high-profile backing and cut into its festival prospects. But other film-makers, led mostly by Muslim women, have argued that Smaker’s is an unethical project that does a disservice to its main characters, all of whom spent many brutal years in Guantánamo, none of whom were ever charged with a crime. The director, Meg Smaker, claims that the participants gave consent to be filmed and were able to speak freely. That has been the subject of fierce debate and protest since the film premiered at Sundance earlier this year. ![]()
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