Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr March 9, 2016

Omar Khadr is the Canadian youth who was captured by American Forces in Afghanistan and spent over a decade in Guantanamo Prison.  He was released on bail in Edmonton in May of 2015 at age 28.  Based on the book by award-winning journalist Michelle Shephard who co-directed the film with Patrick Reed, “Guantanamo’s Child” chronicles Khadr’s life from his family’s arrival in Afghanistan from Canada through his capture when he was 15 to his time in the infamous Guantanamo Prison where he underwent hundreds of hours of interrogation and “coercive techniques”.  The film probes Khadr’s case from every angle with interviews with soldiers, prison guards and prison mates.

In the words of the filmmakers:  “For more than a decade Omar Khadr has existed only as a caricature drawn and defined by others: victim, killer, child, detainee, political pawn, terrorist, pacifist.  We had a simple goal in making this documentary – we wanted to tell his story by allowing him to tell his story….It was not a simple film to make.”

“Guantanamo’s Child” was rated as one the ten best Canadian films of 2015 by Vancouver’s Cinematheque.  It acquaints us with an incredibly resilient young man who grew up in a tragic and mind-boggling situation and quietly portrays the triumph of the human spirit.