For years, the Uzbek authorities have ruthlessly suppressed all manifestations of real and imaginary resistance under the guise of a “war on terror.” The protagonist in the film by Magnus Gertten has been fighting for years to free her brother, who was convicted on trumped-up charges of carrying out a terrorist attack. Like most political prisoners put away by the Uzbek dictatorship, Iskandar is held in the infamous Jaslyk Prison, in the desert. Over time, his sister becomes one of Uzbekistan’s most recognizable human rights activists. Although she eventually decides to flee to Europe, she tries tirelessly to get the world to take an interest in her brother’s fate. Agents from Uzbekistan’s intelligence service follow her to Sweden, where one of them manages to get very close to her. Meanwhile, years later Iskandar decides to confess to the acts he allegedly committed ...

Konrad Wirkowski