WINNER OF TWO SILVER BEARS
72nd BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Films We Like has acquired the Canadian rights to RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W BUSH by Andreas Dresen, a tragic-comedy based on real life events. The film premiered at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival where it won two prestigious Silver Bears for Best Screenplay (Laila Stieler) and Best Leading Performance (Meltem Kaptan).
Murat is incarcerated in the U.S.’ Guantanamo detention camp. Desperate to help her son, Rabiye Kurnaz, a housewife and loving mother from Bremen, goes to the police, notifies authorities and almost despairs at their impotence, until she discovers Bernhard Docke. The reserved, level-headed human rights lawyer and the temperamental Turkish mother – now fighting side-by-side for Murat’s release. Docke is patient, Rabiye is not. She’d actually prefer to be back home with her family but finds herself totally enmeshed in world politics. She goes with Bernhard to Washington, and right up to the Supreme Court to bring legal action against George W. Bush. Bernhard watches out for her. And Rabiye makes him laugh. With heart and soul. And in the end, against all the odds, something truly remarkable happens.
“A fresh, real life spin on David and Goliath.”
About Films We Like
Founded by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential, Carmine Street Guitars) Films We Like is a boutique distributor of documentary, independent, and international films in Canada. Recent releases include the Academy Award winning film Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.