THE PRISONER, OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR
Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker, Germany/USA, 2006
Monday 16 October 2006 10.30pm-11.25pm; rpt 2.25am-3.20am
In September 2003 freelance Iraqi cameraman Yunis Khatayer Abbas was arrested and accused of planning to kill Tony Blair. This film is an extraordinary portrait of an ordinary man trying to make sense of an absurd and nightmarish situation.
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Nick Fraser
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Yunis had just got back from a wedding when a detachment of American soldiers arrived, carting him off to Abu Ghraib. He was kept there for months, but never charged. His captors informed him that he was there under suspicion of wanting to kill Tony Blair. Many painful films have been made about the occupation of Iraq, but Yunis' story is unique in being funny as well as deeply shocking. In the end he was released without being charged.
Yunis is a journalist, and he worked for a number of Western media organisations. This charming man tells stories wonderfully. And no, it doesn't appear that he ever wanted to kill Tony Blair, though you might forgive him for nursing the occasional negative thought towards our Prime Minister and the Coalition of the Willing.
