Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
TITLE
Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
DIRECTOR
Andreas Dresen
COUNTRY
Germany, France
YEAR
2022
DURATION
119′
GENRE
Drama
Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
In November 2001, Murat Kurnaz, a Turk born and raised in Germany, is arrested during a routine check while in Pakistan. Suspected of being a terrorist, he ends up in the notorious U.S. prison camp in Guantánamo in early 2002. But although his innocence is soon proven, he remains in custody because the Turkish government does not intervene, and the German government rejects an American offer. Meanwhile, Kurnaz's mother Rabiye begins an almost hopeless fight to get her son released: Together with human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke, she files a lawsuit against the American government. This step catapults the Turkish housewife from her terraced house in Bremen directly into world politics. The grueling legal process drags on for years, leading the Kurnaz-Docke duo all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Andreas Dresen
Andreas Dresen was born in Gera, East Germany, in 1963. He initially worked as a sound engineer for the Schwerin Theater, before he studied directing at the Konrad Wolf Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. He began working as a screenwriter and director in 1992. His debut film, Stilles Land, took the 1993 Berlin Film Festival by storm. Dresen is known for his work using cast improvisation instead of a script. His breakthrough in this respect was his film Halbe Treppe. All his films have received prestigious international prizes. His tragicomic movie Sommer vorm Balkon captures the story of two single girlfriends who are seeking love. It won major awards, such as Best Script for Wolfgang Kohlhaase (53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, 2005) and the Silver Hugo Award for leading actresses Nadja Uhl and Inka Friedrich (41st Chicago International Film Festival, 2005). His film, Wolke 9, about a love triangle among elderly people, was an international sensation and was nominated for the 2008 European Film Academy Award. Andreas Dresen is also known as a theater director and has worked at the Cottbus Theater and Deutsches Theater in Berlin. His production of Kasimir and Karoline, for example, premiered in May 2006. In February 2006 he also made his debut as an opera director at the Theater Basel in Switzerland with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Dresen is one of Germany's most successful filmmakers. In 2013, he was a member of the jury at the Berllin International Film Festival. He lives in Potsdam.
- DirectorAndreas Dresen
- Screenplay
- Cinematography Andreas Höfer
- Cast
- Editing Jörg Hauschild
- Producer/s Fee Buck, Andreas Dresen, Christoph Friedel, Christian Granderath, Erhan Ozogul, Olivier Père, Sabine Schenk ,Claudia Steffen
- Production Company
- Distributor/s
- Project TitleRabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush
- Project TypeDrama
- Completion Date January 1, 2022
- Country of originGermany, France
- Country of filmingGermany, France
- Language
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student ProjectNo
Andreas Dresen
Andreas Dresen was born in Gera, East Germany, in 1963. He initially worked as a sound engineer for the Schwerin Theater, before he studied directing at the Konrad Wolf Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. He began working as a screenwriter and director in 1992. His debut film, Stilles Land, took the 1993 Berlin Film Festival by storm. Dresen is known for his work using cast improvisation instead of a script. His breakthrough in this respect was his film Halbe Treppe. All his films have received prestigious international prizes. His tragicomic movie Sommer vorm Balkon captures the story of two single girlfriends who are seeking love. It won major awards, such as Best Script for Wolfgang Kohlhaase (53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, 2005) and the Silver Hugo Award for leading actresses Nadja Uhl and Inka Friedrich (41st Chicago International Film Festival, 2005). His film, Wolke 9, about a love triangle among elderly people, was an international sensation and was nominated for the 2008 European Film Academy Award. Andreas Dresen is also known as a theater director and has worked at the Cottbus Theater and Deutsches Theater in Berlin. His production of Kasimir and Karoline, for example, premiered in May 2006. In February 2006 he also made his debut as an opera director at the Theater Basel in Switzerland with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Dresen is one of Germany's most successful filmmakers. In 2013, he was a member of the jury at the Berllin International Film Festival. He lives in Potsdam.
