Extraordinary Rendition (2007)

Director:

Jim Threapleton

Writer:

Jim Threapleton (writer)

Release Date:

August 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A man is abducted from the streets of London and transported via secret flights to an unknown country...

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Extraordinary Rendition

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Omar Berdouni	...	Zaafir
Andy Serkis	...	The Interrogator
Ania Sowinski	...	Ewa
Jimmy Yuill	...	Dean
Hugh Ross	...	Solicitor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ehti Aslam	...	University Student
Nick Bartlett	...	Sergei Illyich
Emilio Doorgasingh	...	Guard
Greg Edwards	...	Zaafir's Father (as Ham Zanoun)
Davood Ghadami	...	Guard
Rami Hilmi	...	Guard 'Khaalid'
Luke Ireland	...	University Student
Munir Khairdin	...	Interrogator's Colleague
Goran Kostic	...	Radovan
Julian Lee	...	Officer
Angus Lindsay	...	Security Guard
Roddy McDevitt	...	Dan
Aleksander Mikic	...	Ante
Naoufal Ousellam	...	Zaafir's Brother
Laurence Possa	...	Octavian
Tony Price	...	Zaafir's Guard
Paul Viragh	...	Abductor
Zamira Wicking	...	Zaafir's Mother

Directed by
Jim Threapleton

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Threapleton		writer

Produced by
Rory Aitken	....	executive producer
Andrew Hardwick	....	line producer
Ellen Ann Hopkins	....	executive producer
Jonathan Hopkins	....	executive producer
Andrew Noble	....	producer
Ben Pugh	....	executive producer
Stuart Wheeler	....	executive producer

Original Music by
James Edward Barker

Cinematography by
Duncan Telford

Film Editing by
Brian Hovmand
Matt Scragg

Casting by
Sooki McShane

Production Design by
Kristian Milsted

Costume Design by
Alex Watherston

Makeup Department
Anna Cash	....	makeup artist
Anna Hedly	....	makeup artist
Perdip Takhar	....	assistant makeup artist
Claudine Van De Vyver	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Emily Perowne	....	first assistant director
Diane Taylor-Karrer	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Chris Barber	....	assistant art director
Johanna Wise	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Joanna Andrews	....	boom operator
Christian Bass	....	adr
Robert Brazier	....	dialogue editor
Mathew Knights	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sam Pullen	....	sound recordist
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer
Lionel Strutt	....	adr coordinator
Anna Sulley	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Aoibhinn Dinnigan	....	colourist

Stunts
Jamie Edgell	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Moncho Aldamiz	....	camera operator
Pete Carrier	....	electrician
Kevin Moran	....	still photographer
Dan Moss	....	assistant camera
Amy Newstead	....	camera operator
Gaby Norland	....	camera operator
Chin Okoronkwo	....	camera operator
Martin Roach	....	camera operator
Bernhard Rostoski	....	gaffer
Daniel Russel	....	camera operator
Joe Turp	....	still photographer
Richard Wynne	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leanne Angus	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
John Kerron	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Charlie Andrew	....	music recording engineers
James Edward Barker	....	music mixer
James Edward Barker	....	music score producer
James Edward Barker	....	musician: 6-string thai saw duang
James Edward Barker	....	orchestrator
Tim Despic	....	additional composer
Tim Despic	....	music score producer
Tim Despic	....	orchestrator
Natalie Ann Holt	....	musician: violins
James Loughrey	....	music mixer
Ian Neil	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Daniel Douglass	....	production assistant
Mark Lobatto	....	production assistant
Lulu Lory	....	production secretary
Alexandra Lustigman	....	production runner
Nicola Roberts	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Ultrafilm

Distributors

• Accent Film Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Mayflower Studios  adr recording studio
• Veneration Music  score coordination

Also Known As:

Rendition (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

UK:77 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA (2008) | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Ultrafilm

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Zaafir is reciting dates of important historical events he says "Spanish Armada 1558." The date should be 1588.

Movie Connections:

References Nine Hours to Rama (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Clock

a far cry from 24

I suppose one of the things about living in a developed country is having things nicely packaged.

If I eat meat, I don't want to be presented with vivid descriptions of slaughterhouses. News programmes can show pictures of fighting in Iraq, but detailed close-ups of severed limbs are inappropriate. But if I think food has caused unnecessary suffering or illegal cruelty I might want to know. If our boys abroad fighting for king and country have raped or pillaged, I expect them to be brought to justice. No gory details, you understand. Just do something about it.

Words package things. In some cases, we can always work it out if we want a bigger picture. Foie gras. Eliminate an enemy target. Regime change. Go to the bathroom. Spare me the details.

So what about phrases like extraordinary rendition? waterboarding? Well I can explain these, I think. Extraordinary rendition is when a terrorist suspect is transported to a foreign country. Waterboarding - there's been some human rights arguments over whether that's torture or not. You pour water on someone. They worry they're drowning. Doesn't sound very nice, but not like pouring acid on them or the really nasty stuff.

The truth is, we don't have the vocabulary for things we've never imagined. Not just the words. The emotional vocabulary is lacking.

Extraordinary Rendition follows Zaafir, a London-based academic. Suddenly he is snatched from the streets, locked in a shipping container, drugged and abused. He wakes up in a foreign country where he is tortured. Various details of his life come forward where erroneous assumptions could be made. As director Jim Threapleton says, "It's about the footprints we all leave in our lives. Whether it's your credit card statements, or destinations you travelled to in your year off, or an email you may or may not have opened. Under scrutiny, that can be misinterpreted or appropriated to an agenda." Eventually, Zaafir is released without charge.

The film uses flashbacks and flash-forwards to tell the three segments of his life. His normal life as a teacher with friends and family. His traumatised self when he returns (and his uncompreheding wife). Horrific experiences abroad.

That horrific segment is simply quite graphic. Waterboarding ceases to be a concept, hiding behind nicely packaged words. It's scary sh*t. Not that they stop at that. They do the more traditionally 'really nasty stuff' too.

Extraordinary Rendition comes from a minute budget and no little integrity. It is careful not to point accusatory fingers (the truth is always more complicated), but equally careful in its researching of hundreds of cases. It was made with the assistance of Amnesty International. At the Edinburgh UK Premiere, producer Andy Noble was careful not to overstate facts (but he was equally knowledgeable and demonstrated a firm grasp of the data on the many real cases from which the story was inspired).

The main drawback of Extraordinary Rendition is its narrative structure. As soon as we know the three different sections of Zaafir's life, not a lot is added by way of plot development. I also felt the story should stand on its own without the addition of background drumming and wailing for added effect (although the diegetic sounds of a person being tortured in an adjacent room were very effective.) As a work of fiction focussing on human rights, as a protest film, it is first rate. But as cinema entertainment it may well be swamped by similar themed films using larger budgets. Like the Hollywood version (called simply 'Rendition') due for mainstream distribution only months after the release of this film.