Plot

The use of a foreign policy established in the mid-1990s by the US government has begun to spiral out of control since 9/11. Stories of Extraordinary Rendition, dubbed "the outsourcing of torture," have damaged America's image as a bastion of human rights advocacy with one scandal after another. The Strange Case of Salman abd al Haqq is a fictional short film based on the testimony and experiences of torture victims who have fortunately been released to tell their tales. It tells the story of its fictional protagonist Salman, who finds himself jailed and interrogated by the brutal Egyptian secret service in Cairo because of his alleged involvement with three suspected terrorists. Meanwhile, through flashbacks, we learn about Salman's past, from his up-bringing by devoutly Muslim parents in the wake of 9/11 to an identity crisis exacerbated by a year studying at a religious school in Saudi Arabia. The Strange Case touches on issues such as the morality of torture, the effectiveness of the War on Terror, the role of Arabs in American society and the struggle between traditionalism and progressiveness in the Muslim world. In February 2007, it will offer you a nuanced and intriguing perspective of an issue that is of immense importance to 21st Century America.—Tim Gregory