A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships

In December 2001, a Yemeni citizen named Moath al-Alwi was captured by Pakistani forces near the country’s border with Afghanistan, turned over to the US government and detained at the infamous Guantánamo Bay detention camp at the southeastern tip of Cuba. Al-Alwi was originally thought to have been one of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards. However, in 2021, US officials wrote that al-Alwi lacked any ‘leadership position in Al-Qaeda or the Taliban’ and, acknowledging that he didn’t represent a threat to US security and had participated in rehabilitation programmes, approved his transfer from the prison. Yet, as of this writing, al-Alwi remains at Guantánamo Bay, with no release date in sight, despite never being charged with a crime.

The short documentary A Ship from Guantánamo offers viewers a rare glimpse into al-Alwi’s life at Guantánamo Bay, where he’s been able to find a small escape in creating intricate model ships built from found objects like dental floss, prayer beads and cardboard. Collaborating on the film with al-Alwi despite not being able to meet him, the South African filmmaker Dara Kell and the US filmmaker Veena Rao explore how his artworks have helped him preserve his humanity amid the dehumanising conditions of his imprisonment.