“Five Years” examines the fate of the German Guantanamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz. Director Stefan Schaller’s film exposes viewers to the horrific abuse of human rights endured by camp detainees. Jochen Kürten reports
Cinema has always tended to embroil itself in current politics. While there is no standard formula for the genre of political cinema, the success of such films often comes down to the quality of the script and the ability and sensitivity of the director. The German film “5 Jahre Leben” (“Five Years”) is one triumphant example.
The background to the film is the case of Turkish-German Murat Kurnaz. Shortly after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, Kurnaz was captured in Pakistan and taken to the notorious Guantanamo detention camp where he was imprisoned for five years.
