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Alum’s Omar Khadr doc nominated for Emmy

Patrick Reed’s critically hailed film explores the life of the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, in his own words
September 6, 2016
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By Richard Burnett


Toronto-born Omar Khadr made international headlines in 2002 when he was imprisoned in a Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp. Khadr had allegedly thrown a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan that killed an American soldier. He was just 15 years old.

Over a decade later, the award-winning filmmaker Patrick Reed, MA (history) 96, directed the critically hailed documentary Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr, about how the Canadian teenager ended up being the only juvenile ever to face an American war-crimes trial.

The documentary, which was co-directed by the Toronto Star’s national security reporter Michelle Shepard, had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and has since screened at festivals worldwide. It has been nominated for 2016 awards for Best Editing and Best Documentary by the Directors Guild of Canada.

Watch the trailer:

This summer Guantanamo’s Child also earned a nomination for a News and Documentary Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story — Long Form. The 37th Annual News and Documentary Emmys will be presented September 21, 2016, in New York City.

Patrick Reed Patrick Reed’s documentary Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr has been nominated for a 2016 Emmy Award. | All photos courtesy White Pine Pictures

It’s not Reed’s first high-level recognition. He also worked on the documentary film Shake Hands With The Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire, which won the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and the Emmy for Best Documentary in 2007.

Dallaire is distinguished senior fellow at Concordia’s Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS).

“When you tackle the subjects that I have, the starting point, the motivation is not to win awards,” says Reed. “But anything that brings attention to the film, to the subject matter, is a positive thing.”

The recognition has another practical benefit. “Being nominated for a big award or having your film screened at an important film festival is a nice way of countering what I often deal with when pitching new projects — the assumption that Canadian audiences really don’t care about complex stories and international issues,” Reed says. “I like to say, ‘Here’s the proof.’”

Filmmaker Patrick Reed on the set. Filmmaker Patrick Reed on the set.

In other words, awards help sell documentaries. “It’s an increasingly difficult market, so every little bit helps.”

Polarizing figure

Reed says he was compelled to make Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr “because I’ve made films about child soldiers in Africa, and this is a subject that touched on issues of international justice and accountability. At what stage of your life can you be held accountable?”

He adds, “This is also a Canadian story. I think Omar Khadr is a Canadian that everybody had a strong opinion about. He is a polarizing figure and nobody had the opportunity to hear him tell his story in his own words. Our approach was just to give him a chance to talk and allow viewers to make up their own minds.”

What does Omar Khadr think of the film?

Movie poster for Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr Movie poster for Guantanamo’s Child: Omar Khadr

“I know there are things in the film that are difficult for him to watch, and that’s understandable. He has been present at screenings and speaks about the film, so that indicates to me that he is supportive, that he sees something truthful or interesting in the film,” Reed says.

“I mean, today he is 29 years old, and the film explores a lot of what happened in his life when he was 15-16. Like anybody with a troubled past and trying to move forward, you don’t want to be overly trapped in the past.”

Reed came to Concordia in 1994 to pursue a master’s degree. “I went there because they had something pretty unique at the time, MIGS, and a field — genocide studies — that I was always interested in,” he explains.

“That program really shaped me. But I switched over to film because I wanted to reach larger audiences.

Reed maintains ties to MIGS. “Throughout all the films I have made in the past 15 years, I am still in touch with current professors there, sharing information and contacts,” he says.

“So on an intellectual and practical level, Concordia still enriches the work I am doing today.”

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