The Road to Guantanamo took home the Best Documentary Film trophy at the 2007 Film Independent's Spirit Awards, capping off a winning year for the documentary film from co-directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross. The Road to Guantanamo uses reenactments and interviews to tell the story of three British Muslims (nicknamed the 'Tipton Three') who were held for two years in the American prison at Guantanamo Bay without being charged.
Winterbottom was absent from the Spirit Awards but Whitecross was more than willing to talk about his controversial film while on the blue carpet at the Spirit Awards.
When you first began working on this, were you concerned about how it would be received by the public?
“It’s interesting you say that because it’s had a very mixed reception. We kind of expected it to have a very mixed reception because it’s a very controversial subject. It’s a quite controversial film. It’s been in certain territories and certain areas, it’s been very well received. In other places it’s been absolutely torn apart and I think that’s a good thing. If you’re going to tackle a subject like this, it’s important not to sit on the fence. You should do something that’s really very strong. So it’s been good. I was in New York last year and we screened it, and it had a really great reception. And then Michael the other director, was traveling around to TV stations soon after that and he was absolutely torn to shreds so… You know, who knows?”
Why were you so passionate about telling this story?
“I think for many different reasons. Aside from anything else, it’s an amazing subject matter. These three guys, three very normal West End kids, for them to end up in the world’s most notorious prison – immediately there you’ve got a story. But aside from that, personally my parents were political prisoners in the ‘70s in Argentina so I definitely saw there are connections, resonances, with their story. It was important for me to tell this story because they wanted, at the time when they were in prison, they wanted people to tell their story.”
Have you been contacted by others with similar stories?
“Well, we’ve had a lot of contact now with a lot of the prisoners who came out after we made the film. It’s been interesting. They’ve tried to kind of use the film in a lot of cases to try and publicize the issue.”
They’ve used your film?
“They have used the film. Campaigning groups like Amnesty International, for example, in human rights work have been using it as part of their campaign. Obviously these are long running campaigns and it’s not like one film can change anything. But I think if it can highlight the issue and it can really bring it out and give it true force… Because sometimes when you read it on a piece of paper it doesn’t have the same strength. So I think it’s important it’s been harnessed in that way by certain campaigners.”
You said one film can’t change everything but it can help. Is that the whole point of you being involved in documentaries?
“I think so. For me, I’ve been very heavily involved influenced by documentaries I saw when I was growing up. Obviously films like Hearts and Minds and so on. It doesn’t even necessarily mean you’ll do something about that particular issue, but it might change your political outlook – your outlook on life. I think it’s incredibly important that there’s a space for documentaries to be shown to a wider audiences.”
What do you think about the increase in the number of people capable of making documentaries with DV and other formats so readily available?
“I think it’s fantastic. It’s great the more people who are getting out there and making films. There are so many stories to be told and in the past those stories were kind of swamped and they disappeared. And now through the Internet and through different means of distribution, hopefully those voices are finally going to be heard. That does mean that there’s a lot of crap out there as well, but…”
It could dilute things.
“Oh sure, but I think ultimately what you need is a kind of…search engine so you can search out the best stuff. I think ultimately it will rise to the top.”
