The Prisoner, or How I Planned to Kill the Poodle

US doco shows Abu Ghraib 'horror'
By Christine Kearney in New York
March 25, 2007 12:00
Article from: Reuters

ABU Ghraib prison is notorious for images that surfaced in 2003 showing horrific abuses of Iraqis by US soldiers, but a new documentary aims to highlight the plight facing many innocent Iraqis by depicting the humdrum misery there.

US filmmaker Michael Tucker won critical acclaim for his documentary Gunner Palace, about American soldiers taking up residence in Saddam Hussein's former palace.

Now his film The Prisoner, or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, made with his wife Petra Epperlein, tells the story of Yunis Khatayer Mr Abbas, an Iraqi journalist captured by American soldiers in 2003.

In the film, Mr Abbas recalls the humiliation of his interrogation, which led to him being told he was suspected of plotting to assassinate British Prime Minister Tony Blair, before being sent to Abu Ghraib.

But the film does not focus on any of the graphic images or depictions of abuses that made the prison an international scandal. And that is exactly the point, Tucker said.

"People are so jaded with basic human suffering that unless it is sensational, they don't respond to it," he said.

The interrogations innocent Iraqis like Mr Abbas suffer every day deserve as much attention as the now infamous photographs of abuse at Abu Ghraib, Tucker said.

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