Creative Capital

Laura Poitras The Oath

Discipline
Film/Video
Medium
Narrative
Subject

Politics
State
New York
Year
2008
Status
Touring

Description

The Oath is a cross-cut tale of two men propelled on divergent courses with Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Guantanamo Bay Prison and the U.S. Supreme Court. Abu Jandal is a taxi driver in Sana’a, Yemen; his brother-in-law Salim Hamdan is a Guantanamo prisoner and the first man to face the controversial military tribunals. Jandal and Hamdan’s intertwined personal trajectories—how they became bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver, respectively—act as prisms that serve to explore and contextualize a world that has confounded Western media. As Hamdan’s trial progresses, his military lawyers challenge fundamental flaws in the court system. The charismatic Jandal dialogues with his young son, Muslim students and journalists, and chillingly unveils the complex evolution of his belief system post-9/11. The Oath offers a rare window into a realm too long misunderstood—and the international impact of the U.S. War on Terror.

Laura Poitras

Laura Poitras was nominated for an Academy Award and Independent Spirit Award for My Country, My Country (2006), which was released in the U.S. by Zei…
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Project Updates

2011: The Oath is nominated for two Emmy Awards for its screening on PBS’s P.O.V.
2011: The Oath screens at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London
2010: The Oath wins the Gotham Award for Best Documentary
2010: The Oath is released on DVD
2010: The Oath premieres on PBS’s P.O.V. series
2010: The Oath is one of 12 films chosen to compete for the TCM Audience Award in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section at the San Sebastian International Film Festival
2010: The Oath wins best documentary film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
2010: The Oath screens at Human Rights Film Festival in Chicago
2010: The Oath wins special prize at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto
2010: The Oath has theatrical premiere at IFC in New York
2010: The Oath wins the grand jury prize for documentary feature at IFFBoston
2010: The Oath receives best documentary feature award at the Sarasota Film Festival
2010: The Oath is screened at the Full Frame Documentary Festival and receives Anne Dellinger Special Jury Prize
2010: The Oath is screened at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival at Pacific Film Archive
2010: The Oath is screened at the New Directors/New Films Festival presented by MoMA and Lincoln Center Film Society in NYC
2010: The Oath is screened at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Film Festival
2010: The Oath is acquired by Zeitgeist Films
2010: The Oath is screened at SXSW in Austin, TX
2010: The Oath is awarded the True Vision award from the True/False Film Festival
2010: The Oath is screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
2010: The Oath premieres at the 2010 Sundance Film festival and receives the Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary.