''Guantanamo's Child'' is a 2015 Canadian

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

. Directed by Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard based on Shephard's 2009 book ''Guantanamo's Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr'', the film profiles Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen whose conviction on disputed

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

charges and incarceration at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

has been a prominent political issue in Canada."'Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr' Set To Make Its World Premiere At TIFF"
''

ET Canada ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' (commonly shortened to ''ET Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series that aired on the Global Television Network from 2005 to 2023. Its branding and format were based on the American entertainm ...

'', August 5, 2015.

Synopsis

The documentary features the story of Omar Khadr, in which he was captured in 2002 by Americans in Afghanistan and was charged with war crimes. The film takes an in-depth look at how Khadr at 15 years old became the center of one of the first American war crimes trial since the 1940s through Khadr's own perspective. Omar Khadr for the first time was given the opportunity to speak for himself on camera. Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes in October 2010 for a plea deal which gave him a chance to possibly return to Canada and an eight-year sentence. Omar Khadr spent a decade at Guantanamo,"''Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr'' features unprecedented access and exclusive interviews with Khadr during his first few days of freedom in Edmonton, where he was released on bail on May 7, 2015". The film is in part based on Michelle Shepard’s book Guantanamo's Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr; the documentary follows through the timeline between Khadr's childhood and his time at Guantanamo till his current life of freedom.

Production

The film was produced by White Pine Pictures, in association with

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

and the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

. This documentary is an expanded version of a television program that aired on CBC in May 2015 called ''Omar Khadr: Out of the Shadows''. A version of the film aired on

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

in June 2015."Guantanamo's Child - Omar Khadr"

, June 7, 2015. It had its world premiere at the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and N ...

. At the 2015

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. In 2020, thei ...

, the film won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature. In December, the film was announced as part of TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten screening series of the so-called ten best Canadian feature films of the year.

Reception

''Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr'' was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

at the 37th Annual

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Scien ...

s. The film was nominated in the Outstanding Coverage of Current News Story—Long Form category, along with

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Frontline projects, ''Secrets, Politics and Torture'' and ''Inside Assad’s Syria.'' The documentary also received the Donald Brittain Award and the award for Best Direction in a Documentary Program at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards.''

References

External links

* *
Interview with Michelle Shephard and Patrick Reed
(Vice.com)

at

{{Donald Brittain Award 2015 films 2015 documentary films 2010s Canadian films 2010s English-language films Canadian documentary television films CBC Television original films Documentary films about child soldiers Documentary films about lawyers Documentary films about the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Donald Brittain Award winning shows English-language Canadian films Films scored by Mark Korven Guantanamo Bay detention camp English-language documentary films