True/False Films

The Oath

In person: director Laura Poitras

At The Oath's center is Abu Jandal, former bodyguard to Osama bin Laden and now a cab driver in Yemen. As his story unfolds through wonderfully intimate camera work, our connection to Jandal becomes deeply personal — watching him wake up his son for morning prayers reveals a softer side of the man, and scenes of him speaking with a group of Yemeni youths give a firsthand look at the gentle, logical inculcation that makes radical Islam attractive to its adherents. But Jandal also carries a great burden: his belief that his brother-in-law rots in Guantánamo in his place. Poitras has crafted a narrative that is simultaneously intimate and global, and her camera goes where others fear to tread. This is a masterwork of nonfiction filmmaking and a movie that will provoke discussion for years to come. (JS)

print | close