The Guantanamo Trap

Four people whose biographies are intrinsically linked to the Guantanamo Bay internment camp on Cuba: firstly, a former prisoner from Germany. Secondly, two military lawyers active in the so-called war against terror, who themselves were instrumentalised in the system of torture and eventually plunged into a personal and moral crisis. And finally, the Spanish lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who set himself the task of bringing several representatives of the Bush administration to justice for crimes against humanity.

Murat Kurnaz was released from the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after five years of imprisonment. He was detained without trial. In the same year, Matthew Diaz, Judge Advocate for the Navy, was sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment for passing on the names of the detainees to a human rights organisation. Judge Advocate Diane Beaver was also deployed in Guantanamo. Here, she became the author of a legal document that would later be nicknamed the 'torture memo'.

Four encounters with Guantanamo, four individuals, whose lives will be forever changed. Their stories are exemplary and yet unique. The roles they played are ambiguous, the usual definition of victim and perpetrator is secondary. In the maelstrom that is Guantanamo, in the free falling of a lawless space beyond the Geneva convention, beyond International jurisdiction – notions of good and evil, right and wrong loose their meaning.

Hot Docs (Special Jury Prize), Sheffield, Encounters South Africa, Jerusalem, Valladolid, Watch Docs Human Rights in Film IFF (nominated), Genie Nomination

Excerpts from Reviews

3.5 out of 4 Stars "One hell of a documentary." - Guy Dixon, Globe and Mail

3.5 out of 4 Stars "Simply an intelligent, serious documentary."- Guy Dixon, Globe and Mail

4 out of 5 Stars "A compulsively watchable film." - Andrew Parker, Criticize This

4 out of 5 Stars "A moving documentary." Valérie Lobsiger, Cineman (Switzerland)

8 out of 10 Stars "A heart-breaking documentary." - Sibusiso Mkwanazi, The Citizen, (South Africa)

8 out of 10 Stars "A heart-breaking documentary that leaves viewers not knowing whose side to be on."- Sibusiso Mkwanazi, The Citizen, (South Africa)

3 out of 5 Stars "If you’ve never given much thought to the legal and moral nightmare that is the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The Guantanamo Trap is a good place to start." - Norm Wilner, Now Magazine

"A fascinating study of torture and its wide ranging effects." - Rob Turnbull, rowthree.com

"The filmmaking is top draw—utterly compelling and compulsory viewing." - Encounters Film Festival Review

"A riveting film" - - Encounters Film Festival Review

"Not an agit prop documentary, and none of these characters fit convenient moral stereotypes." - Brian D. Johnston, MacLeans Magazine

"The Guantanamo Trap … forces us to see the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay from a fresh angle" - Brian D. Johnston, MacLeans Magazine

"A provocative study of humanity and democracy, and how easily they’re corrupted under pressure. - Alex Rogalski, Hot Docs Film Festival Review

"A powerful film that mobilizes compelling characters who face uncomfortable truths, piecing together the anatomy of a broken system." - Jury statement, Hot Docs Special Jury Prize