The Oath (2010 film)

The Oath
Directed byLaura Poitras
Produced byLaura Poitras, Jonathan Oppenheim, Nasser Arrabyee, Aliza Kaplan, David Menschel
CinematographyKirsten Johnson
Edited byJonathan Oppenheim
Music byOsvaldo Golijov
Distributed byZeitgeist Films
Release dates
  • January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) (Sundance)
  • May 7, 2010 (2010-05-07) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageArabic

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 citizens during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The third, Citizenfour (2014), focuses on the NSA's domestic surveillance programs. The Oath is distributed both theatrically and non-theatrically in the US by New York–based Zeitgeist Films.