‘Rendition’ – Official Trailer:

4 August, 2023 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 2 categories

Directed by Gavin Hood, Written by Kelley Sane, Produced by Steve Golin, David Kanter, Keith Redmon, Michael Sugar, and Marcus Viscidi, Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Meryl Streep, Omar Metwally, Igal Naor, Moa Khouas, Zineb Oukach, with Cinematography by Dion Beebe, and Edited by Megan Gill, with Music by Paul Hepker, and Mark Kilian, Production companies: Level 1 Entertainment, and Anonymous Content, and Distributed by New Line Cinema (2007)

EXTRAORDINARY MEANS OF PROTECTING A NATION…

Rendition is a 2007 political thriller directed by Gavin Hood, and starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri, who was mistaken for Khalid al-Masri.

Director Gavin Hood at the The 32nd Annual Toronto International Film Festival "Rendition" Premiere at Roy Thompson Hall on September 7, 2007 in Toronto, Canada Photo Credit: George Pimentel/WireImage

Reese Witherspoon in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Meryl Streep in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Peter Sarsgaard in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Omar Metwally in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Alan Arkin in a scene from 'Rendition" (2007) Photo Credit: Sam Emerson - © 2007 New Line Cinema.

The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at Langley, VA. Photo Credit: Google Images

Khaled El-Masri (also Khalid El-Masri[1] and Khaled Masri, Levantine Arabic pronunciation: [ˈxaːlɪd elˈmɑsˤɾi, -ˈmɑsˤɾe], Arabic: خالد المصري) (born 29 June 1963) is a German and Lebanese citizen who was mistakenly abducted by the Macedonian police in 2003, and handed over to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While in CIA custody, he was flown to Afghanistan, where he was held at a black site and routinely interrogated, beaten, strip-searched, sodomized, and subjected to other cruel forms of inhumane and degrading treatment and torture. After El-Masri held hunger strikes, and was detained for four months in the "Salt Pit", the CIA finally admitted his arrest was a mistake and released him. He is believed to be among an estimated 3,000 detainees, including several key leaders of al Qaeda, whom the CIA captured from 2001 to 2005, in its campaign to dismantle terrorist networks. Photo Credit: Google Images

Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored kidnapping in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had the purpose of circumventing the source country’s laws on interrogation, detention, extradition, and/or torture. Extraordinary rendition is a type of extraterritorial abduction, but not all extraterritorial abductions include transfer to a third country. The CIA’s extraordinary rendition program is over, but its scope is still shrouded in some mystery. A report, released by the Open Society Foundations, sheds new light on its shocking scale. According to the report, 54 foreign governments somehow collaborated in the program. Some of those governments are brutal dictatorships, and a few are outright U.S. adversaries.

The CIA's extraordinary rendition program is over, but its scope is still shrouded in some mystery. A just-out report, released by the Open Society Foundation, sheds new light on its shocking scale. According to the report, 54 foreign governments somehow collaborated in the program. Some of those governments are brutal dictatorships, and a few are outright U.S. adversaries. Photo Credit: Washington Post

Rendition is the Featured Blog of the Month for August for its political history! You can expect to read a critique of the extraordinary rendition program, and the case of Khalid El-Masri that inspired the film. You can also read a recommendation for the 2007 film by Gavin Hood. There is also a detailed review of the film up against the case of El-Masri that it is based on. You can also watch an interview with Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard, and Witherspoon from 2007 when they promoted the film’s release. There is also a Top Ten List to commemorate the film being a Featured Blog of the Month, and for Rendition, the topic of the list is My Top Ten Political Thriller Movies! And finally, as a Featured Blog of the Month film, you can watch the Official Trailer for the 2007 film and then plan on watching Rendition tonight!