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FilmSkool — a free film school

The Oath (2010)

Name: The Oath
Director: Laura Poitras
Genre: documentary film
Rating: 7.2

The Oath is a 2010 documentary film directed by Laura Poitras. It tells the cross-cut tale of two men, Abu Jandal and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose meeting launched them on juxtaposed paths to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the September 11 attacks, US military tribunals and the U.S. Supreme Court. The film is the second of a trilogy, with the first being My Country, My Country (2006), documenting the lives of Iraqi…

Directed by Laura Poitras · Shot by Kirsten Johnson · Music by Osvaldo Golijov

Behind the scenes

Editor Jonathan Oppenheim Discusses his Concept of "Nodal Scenes", as Seen in "The Oath" — Manhattan Edit Workshop · 3 min
Editor Jonathan Oppenheim Discusses the Difficulty of Objectivity, as Seen in "The Oath" — Manhattan Edit Workshop · 4 min

Elsewhere

More by Laura Poitras

My Country, My Country — 2006
Citizenfour — 2014
Risk — 2016
Hale County This Morning, This Evening — 2018
The Year of the Everlasting Storm — 2021
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed — 2022
Cover-Up — 2025

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