'The Mauritanian' Actor Tahar Rahim on Method Waterboarding and the Magic of Jodie Foster
Twenty years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the stories of human suffering triggered by that horrific day remain as relevant as ever. The Mauritanian, starring Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), tells one such tale of torture and human-rights abuses at Gitmo, a Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Also starring Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley, and Benedict Cumberbatch, the film is based on the explosive memoir, and New York Times best-seller, Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi.
Slahi handwrote the 466 pages after he was captured by the U.S. government—under suspicion of being a recruiter for al Qaeda—in his cell at Camp Five Echo, a secret disciplinary block made up of shipping containers. The prisoner from Mauritania (hence the movie’s title) languished in Gitmo for 14 years without being charged with a crime before finding champions in defense attorney Nancy Hollander (Foster) and her associate, Teri Duncan (Woodley). … Read more