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Uyghurs: Prisoners of the Absurd

This feature documentary recounts the incredible odyssey of 22 men from China’s persecuted Uyghur minority who were detained in Guantánamo as terrorists. These Turkic-speaking Muslims, persecuted by the authorities in Beijing, escaped to the Middle East where they were captured and sold as terrorists to the American forces. From northern China to Guantánamo, Cuba, this new documentary by Patricio Henríquez charts the incredible odyssey of three of these “prisoners of the absurd,” linked to worldwide terror networks through no fault of their own.
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This feature documentary recounts the incredible odyssey of 22 men from China’s persecuted Uyghur minority who were detained in Guantánamo as terrorists. These Turkic-speaking Muslims, persecuted by the authorities in Beijing, escaped to the Middle East where they were captured and sold as terrorists to the American forces. From northern China to Guantánamo, Cuba, this new documentary by Patricio Henríquez charts the incredible odyssey of three of these “prisoners of the absurd,” linked to worldwide terror networks through no fault of their own.

Foreign Countries Developing Countries War, Conflict and Peace All subjects
  • writer
    Patricio Henríquez
  • director
    Patricio Henríquez
  • producer
    Patricio Henríquez
    Colette Loumède
  • creative content producer
    Michelle Shephard
  • editor
    Andrea Henriquez
  • cinematography
    Sylvestre Guidi
    Patricio Henríquez
  • sound recording
    Karim Amin
    Luc Côté
  • research
    Michelle Shephard
    Françoise Guénette
    Luc Côté
    Patricio Henríquez
  • animation
    Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
    Brigitte Archambault
  • original music
    Robert Marcel Lepage
    Nicolas Borycki
  • musician
    Andrew Wells-Oberegger
    Marton Maderspach
    Robin Girard
    François Pilon
    Jean-Félix Mailloux
    Robert Marcel Lepage
    Nicolas Borycki
  • sound editing
    Claude Langlois
    Mélanie Gauthier
  • mix
    Richard Pelletier
  • additional cinematography
    Rénald Bellemare
    Alex Margineanu
  • assistant editor
    Nils Caneele
    Jenny Cartwright
  • music editing
    Nicolas Borycki
  • music recording
    Nicolas Borycki
  • music mix
    Nicolas Borycki
  • production assistant
    Adam Shermann
  • interpreter
    Rushan Abbas
  • translation
    Kayum Masimov
    Saif Fazel Ullah
  • revision of English texts
    Sylvie Dupuis
    Michelle Shephard
  • transcription
    Magenta Baribeau
    Sas Harris
  • archives research
    Jenny Cartwright
  • clearances
    Jenny Cartwright
  • video post-production
    Post-Moderne
  • coordinator
    Myriam Therrien
    Claude Bourgault
  • colour correction
    Julien Alix
  • online editing
    Guillaume Pelletier
  • on-line editing assistant
    Jessie-Lee Labonté
    Charles Tranquille
  • sound post-production
    Audio Zone Inc.
  • mix assistant
    Dominic Nudo
  • technical director
    Denis Boisvert
  • production manager
    Jenny Cartwright
  • administrator
    John Chretien
    Sia Koukoulas
  • marketing manager
    François Jacques
  • marketing manager - assistance
    Catherine Benoît
  • production coordinator
    Hélène Regimbal
  • administrative assistant
    Larissa Christoforo
  • technical coordinator
    Richard Cliche
    Mira Mailhot
  • line production
    Mélanie Lasnier
  • executive producer
    Colette Loumède

Education

Ages 17 to 18

Notes

Ideal for essays, research projects and discussions on human rights, anti-terrorism policy and international law. Research the status of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility under successive U.S. administrations, and the legal status of the remaining detainees. Research why Canada refused to accept any Uyghur detainees. Compare the language of “terrorists” and “enemy combatants” to the debate around Syrian refugees, and compare the Canadian response to that crisis with the responses of European countries, the U.S. or other nations.

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Uyghurs: Prisoners of the Absurd
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