DVD/EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION

"It wasn’t a case of choosing to make this my first feature," says director Jim Threapleton, regarding the challenge of shooting a hard hitting drama about the hideous contemporary practice Extraordinary Rendition. "Rather it chose me. It was one of several projects I had in development but stood out as the debate escalated about government involvement in kidnapping people and transporting them abroad to be tortured."

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"I wanted to contribute to the debate and to do that I had to move quickly.

I did a lot of research during the winter of 2006 leading up to the shoot in 2007, which was an exhilarating experience despite the controversial subject matter.

The story was largely improvised and this was an new experience for me. I had to learn new ways of working every day.

The shoot was further complicated because we were working on a very small budget and often lost locations from one day to the next, forcing us to be unusually flexible.

It also meant that the editing took longer than usual because we had shot a lot of extra footage.

For me the most exciting stage of filmmaking is clearly the time on set but I accept that pre and post production are all part of the process and, of course, it is hugely rewarding to get the finished film.

In Extraordinary Rendition, the violent scenes were particularly difficult to do. Even though you take every safety precaution possible, there is risk involved and it is very tough on the actors.

But, oddly, the interview scenes between Omar, the victim, and Andy, his interrogator were very hard to get right too. Without a script in hand, I had to find a way of communicating to the actors the kind of surreal, fantastic quality I wanted.

I am now getting ready to shoot my second feature, a psychological thriller called Exposure, set in Scotland, and I am looking forward to having a proper script to work with again."

Extraordinary Rendition is out on DVD, selling for £15.99 from April 28, 2008.

Extras include interviews with Threapleton and Omar Bedouni that were recorded during the Edinburgh Film Festival where the film screened last year as well as commentary by Threapleton.

Posted April 25, 2008.