THE REHEARSAL

Written by Ed Cunningham

ed@edcunningham.net

INT. AN EMPTY ROOM - KARACHI, PAKISTAN - DAY POV - Someone turns a cell phone video camera on, and we see the floor, someone on their knees. We hear the CAMERA OPERATOR and some OTHER MAN casually speaking Urdu to each other. We catch glimpses of the other man moving tables and chairs off to the side. The camera operator is careful not to show his face. Gradually the camera operator finds his subject, and we come to see that the person on the floor is A PRISONER of some kind, a shirtless man, wearing handcuffs and a black hood over his head. One of the Urdu speakers says... CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (in Urdu) Take the hood off. Another man enters the frame, but we only see his legs. He takes the hood off the prisoner-- hes a bearded white man, about 40, drenched with sweat, squinting from the light. The camera operator speaks to the prisoner in English... CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) (in English) Okay. This is a rehearsal. Go ahead. Let us hear. The prisoner looks up. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) Do you need some water? The prisoner nods. The other man then walks into frame and hands the prisoner a glass of water. He drinks it down. The other man takes the glass back and leaves frame. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) Is that better? Can you talk? (beat) Say something. THE PRISONER I swallowed a fly... Louder. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.)

THE PRISONER Hello... I swallowed a fly... CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) Tell us who you are. THE PRISONER My name is Danny Pearl.

2. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) Say your name as it appears in print. DANNY You want me to say Daniel? Yes. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) Start again.

DANNY My name is Daniel Pearl. Im an American from Encino, California-CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) Say Jewish American... DANNY Im a Jewish American from Encino California.... Not being able to communicate with anybody... Ive come to realize that the people in Guantanamo Bay are in a similar situation to my own... OTHER MAN (O.C.) (in Urdu) Wait. After he where he is from, he talks his family, tells them who father is, his mother, his grandfather, everything. says about his great-

CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (in English) Yes. Start over. After you say Encino, California, you must tell us what you told us about your family. You remember what you told us? About your family? Danny looks the camera operator dead in the eyes. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) You remember? Coldly, Danny nods once. He looks into the camera for a solid ten seconds, giving a subtle, knowing smile to his family. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) Tell us about your father, your mother, all the way back to your great-grandfather. Start again.

3. DANNY My name is Daniel Pearl. American from--

Im an

CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) A Jewish American... DANNY Im a Jewish American from Encino, California. My fathers side of the family are all Israelis. My father is a Zionist and he teaches at UCLA. My mother is also Jewish. She is from Iraq. OTHER MAN (O.C.) (in Urdu) Just say she is Jewish. Dont say she is from Iraq. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (in English) Dont say my mother is from Iraq. Just say my mother is Jewish. The Camera Operator says something to the Other Man in Urdu. Danny understands them, and looks off camera... CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (CONTD) (in English) Can you read the card? DANNY We Americans cannot continue to bear the consequences of our government's actions, such as the unconditional support given to the state of Israel. Twenty-four uses of the veto power to justify massacres of children. And the support for the dictatorial regimes in the Arab and left-wing world. And also the continued American military presence in Afghanistan. The camera operator fiddles with the camera. POV - CAMERA ON ITS SIDE. Glimpses of Danny glaring at the Camera operator. CAMERA OPERATOR (O.C.) (in English) Good. (in Urdu) I hope I have enough memory for this... Do you have everything? Allah be praised...(in English) Okay, Danny. Its time. Lets begin again. BLACKNESS