Uyghurs: Prisoners of the Absurd

October 2001: as U.S.-led forces invade Afghanistan in search of Osama Bin Laden, 22 men from China’s Uyghur minority happen to be in the country. These Turkish-speaking Muslims are fleeing the repressive authorities in Beijing, who view them as terrorists. Trapped by issues that don’t concern them, the refugees are sold to the U.S. forces and held illegally at Guantánamo for 11 long years, though they represent no threat. Edited like a thriller, with multiple twists and turns, this film charts the fascinating, painful odyssey of three of these victims of the “war on terror” and the economic war between the United States and China. This incredible tale is both thought-provoking and moving, with absurdist overtones—another politically engaged, humanist documentary from Patricio Henríquez (Under the Hood: A Voyage into the World of Torture and You Don’t Like the Truth).