‘The Mauritanian’ brings US Gitmo to big screen with Farhadi’s actor

Upcoming legal thriller ‘The Mauritanian’ is set to feature the story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was held over a decade in the notorious US detention center Guantanamo without charge or trial.

The flick is based on Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the author of an internationally bestselling memoir that detailed the torture he endured as a detainee in Guantanamo Bay for 14 years.

Kevin Macdonald, the award-winning director of the film said of the shooting stage that Slahi “came to the Guantánamo set. He was quite upset by it, so we didn’t let him stay very long.”

“When he is pushed to remember, either by talking or being in that environment, a physical change comes over him. I’m not a psychologist but I can see he’s got PTSD, and it’s a very physical thing. He starts to do strange things with his face. You can just see that he’s not comfortable. He was fidgety and didn’t want to be there. Who can blame him?”, the director added.

Slahi, born in Mauritania in 1970, was held at Guantánamo between 2002 and 2016. While in detention, he wrote “Guantánamo Diary” about his harrowing ordeal.

The 39-year-old actor, Tahar Rahim,  plays Mohamedou Ould Slahi in the flick. The French thespian has played in ‘The Past’ by Iranian Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi.

The upcoming film is set to be released in February, 2021. 

AG/AG