German Film Screening: Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush

The Goethe-Institut South Africa invites you to a German Film Screening Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush (2022) with English subtitles.

Short synopsis:

Suing the American president to get her son Murat released from the Guantánamo prison camp: Rabiye Kurnaz, a housewife from Bremen, and human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke do nothing less. A gripping and humorous drama about the never hopeless battle of David against Goliath.

Long synopsis:

After the attacks of 11 September 2001, Murat Kurnaz, who was born and raised in Germany but is a Turkish citizen, is suspected of being a terrorist and ends up in the notorious US prison camp in Guantánamo. Despite the imminent proof of his innocence, he remains in custody because neither the Turkish nor the German government will stand up for him. Instead, his mother Rabiye Kurnaz takes up the fight, together with human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke. Her lawsuit against the American government catapults the housewife from her terraced house in Bremen straight into world politics and all the way to the US Supreme Court. By placing the mother at the centre of his film, Andreas Dresen's film adopts a very special perspective to tell the story of the Murat Kurnaz case, and does so with humour. In addition to the almost absurd idea of suing the American president as a private individual, it is above all the sheer exuberant passion with which Meltem Kaptan embodies the mother Rabiye Kurnaz that, together with the wonderfully obdurate lawyer played by Alexander Scheer, turns the film into a farce about global political arbitrariness. © Frederik Lang

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Director: Andreas Dresen

Duration: 118 min.

Genre: Biography, Drama

Age rating: 6, but it is recommended that children younger than 12 years are accompanied by their parents.

The event is free and the cafeteria will sell food, popcorn and refreshments.

Please contact [email protected] should you require further information or the menu.