A new documentary film sheds light on the Surrey couple involved in a plot to blow up the B.C. Legislature in Victoria 10 years ago, on Canada Day 2013.
John âOmarâ Nuttall and Amanda âAnaâ Korody were originally found guilty by a jury and did time in prison, but were later acquitted when the Supreme Court of B.C. heard they were coerced by undercover police officers to carry out a terrorist bombing.
Director âs âManufacturing the Threatâ is a fascinating portrait of the couple and also a murky world of Canadian police infiltration, manipulation and entrapment, and how policing and security agencies were granted additional powers after 9/11 to go after âterroristsâ and justify growing budgets.
This week the film is , on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Oct. 17, 19, 20).
to watch the trailer.
Back in 2013, during Operation Souvenir, the RCMP provided Nuttall and Korody with explosives and fake detonators, then arrested and charged them for plotting a terrorist attack.
Millerâs gripping film, world-premiered at Vancouverâs DOXA film festival last May, uses surveillance video to help show how an impoverished pair became radicalized Muslims with pressure and guidance of undercover police who, the director contends, sought to âmanufactureâ the terrorist threat.
Last year the couple announced plans to sue police, prosecutors in their case and the B.C. and Canadian governments.
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Nuttall and Korody still live in the Surrey area, the Montreal-based director said.
âThey had never really done interviews before. It took time to build some trust, and I think thatâs warranted,â Miller said in a phone call Tuesday (Oct. 17).
âI was very lucky to get some development funding for the film in 2019, and thatâs when I went out and filmed with them,â she continued. âThat ended up being the main bulk of the filming for this. I would have liked to have a few more days with them, you know, a year or two later, but thatâs not what happened.â
Miller said sheâs remained in contact with the lawyer involved in the the coupleâs 2022 lawsuit against police and governments.
âI have been writing Omar and Ana, letting them know how things are going,â she explained. âThey didnât attend the premiere (last spring) but I sent them a copy of the film. I donât know if they decided to watch it, because itâs hard for anyone to watch themselves on TV or in films, never mind if youâre sharing extremely traumatic, difficult stories of what happened to you.â
Miller says DOXA is the only âbig festivalâ in Canada to have welcomed the film, to date, and sheâs not entirely sure why.
âEvery other of the Canadian festivals that are in, like, the A tier, the bigger festivals, have snubbed the film, and there still isnât a Canadian broadcaster thatâs taken the film,â Miller said.
âItâs the only film on entrapment and agent provocateurs in Canadian history, thatâs ever been made, so guaranteed thereâs people who will find it interesting,â she added.
âIs it a conspiracy to say that maybe broadcasters donât want to ruffle any feathers and have any issues? I donât know. Itâs tricky for me to say because nobody wants sour grapes, and there are so many good docs that donât get a license or that donât get into good festival, or bigger festivals, I should say.
âIâm very thrilled with the results so far,â Miller added. âWeâve won a couple of awards, and international eyeballs will see this film. But it is a Canadian subject for a Canadian audience. I canât speak on behalf of the broadcasters, but it is one of those things, right, because maybe itâs as simple as no one wants to be critical of the RCMP and CSIS because of the cultural ecosystem that we live in, in Canada.â
- with files from Jane Skrypnek
