Sundance Channel Marks Fourth Anniversary of Iraq War With Television Premieres of The Road To Guantanamo and The Ground Truth

Sundance Channel Marks Fourth Anniversary of Iraq War With Television Premieres of The Road To Guantanamo and The Ground Truth

Double Feature Airs Monday, March 19th at 9:00pm ET/PT

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sundance Channel will mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War with the premiere of two critically acclaimed feature films related to the conflict: Patricia Foulkrod's documentary The Ground Truth and Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross' docudrama The Road to Guantanamo. Sundance Channel's Iraq War programming airs on Monday, March 19, 2007, beginning at 9:00pm ET/PT.

In observation of the fourth anniversary of the launch of the war in Iraq on March 19, 2003, Sundance Channel will present two films that address some of the most significant issues to have arisen in the years that followed. Among them: the training, supervision and postwar treatment of America's volunteer soldiers; the handling of suspected terrorists and military prisoners; and the policies surrounding the waging of war in the midst of a civilian population. Airing at 9:00pm, Patricia Foulkrod's documentary The Ground Truth brings home the reality of the Iraq War through the first-hand accounts of several American men and women who lived it. The film follows their military journeys chronologically, beginning with recruitment and basic training and continuing into the bloody chaos of Iraq; and concluding at home in the U.S., where the soldiers are coping with grave physical and psychological wounds, a profound sense of disconnection, and a government that is slow, if not downright unwilling, to provide assistance. The Ground Truth is one of just fifteen films short-listed as a potential nominee for this year's Academy Award(R) for Best Documentary Feature. Reviewing The Ground Truth for the Seattle Times, Moira Macdonald called it "a haunting and welcome addition to the growing library of war documentaries; one that wisely lets its subjects speak for themselves." The Ground Truth was acquired from Focus Features.

Award-winning filmmaker Michael Winterbottom (In This World, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, the upcoming A Mighty Heart) and Mat Whitecross combine dramatic and documentary techniques in their riveting fact-based chronicle The Road to Guantanamo. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, the film tells the story of the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslim friends who traveled to Pakistan in September 2001 to attend a wedding and ended up in American military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they were held without charge for two years. Interwoven with the film's dramatic reconstruction of events are interviews with the actual Tipton Three -- Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rahul -- who describe the horrific particulars of life inside the controversial prison. In her review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Ruthe Stein wrote, " ... the filmmakers, Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, grab you and keep you in their grip. The account of a series of misunderstandings that brought the men there and their inability to get anyone in authority to believe in their innocence has the force of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller in which the wrong man -- say Henry Fonda in a movie of that title or Cary Grant in 'North by Northwest' -- winds up in a life-threatening situation." The Road to Guantanamo was acquired from Roadside Attractions.

The schedule for Sundance Channel's Iraq War anniversary programming is as follows:

9:00pm e/p

The Ground Truth (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Patricia Foulkrod. This acclaimed film delivers a searing look at an ordinary soldier's life as it introduces several young men and women who served in the Iraq War. In candid, thoughtful interviews, Foulkrod's subjects retrace each step of their military careers, from enlistment and basic training to combat, homecoming and the difficult process of reintegrating into families and communities. Some lost limbs or suffered other permanent physical injuries, and many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and all of them recognize that they can never be the people they were before the war.

10:15pm e/p

The Road to Guantanamo (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross. This award-winning docudrama tells the story of three young Muslim men from Tipton, England, who were held without charge at the American military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for two years. It is September 2001 when Asif (Arfan Usman), Ruhel (Farhad Harun) and Shafiq (Rizwan Ahmed) set out for Pakistan, where Asif is to be married in a traditional arranged union. But the trio's holiday turns into a nightmare when they are caught up in the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and taken into custody as suspected terrorists. Eventually they are flown to Guantanamo, where they are confined in outdoor cages and forbidden to speak -- and that is just the beginning. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director, 2006 Berlin International Film Festival.

Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel is the television destination for independent-minded viewers seeking something different. Bold, uncompromising and irreverent, Sundance Channel offers audiences a diverse and engaging selection of films, documentaries, and original programs, all unedited and commercial free. Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel is a venture of NBC Universal, Showtime Networks Inc. and Robert Redford. Sundance Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression. Sundance Channel's website address is www.sundancechannel.com.

Source: Sundance Channel

CONTACT: Sarah Eaton, +1-212-708-8043, sarah.eaton@sundancechannel.com;
Katie Lanegran, +1-212-708-8044, katie.lanegran@sundancechannel.com

Web site: http://www.sundancechannel.com/

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