Entertainment Movies Historical Movies Jodie Foster Sports White Hair as a Defense Attorney in The Mauritanian Trailer The Mauritanian tells the true story of a man detained in Guantanamo Bay on no charges from 2002 to 2016 By Alexia Fernández Published on December 2, 2020 02:19PM EST Jodie Foster is back — and with a whole new look! The Oscar-winning actress stars in the first trailer for her thriller The Mauritanian in which she plays defense attorney Nancy Hollander, who seeks justice for Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim), a Mauritanian man who stands accused of recruiting the terrorists who flew a plane into the World Trade Center on 9/11. Slahi is held on no charges in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and recruits Hollander and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) to help. Benedict Cumberbatch plays a formidable military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch, who opposes their advocacy. "All my time here I’ve been told, 'You are guilty.' Not for something that I have done, but because of suspicions and associations," Slahi tells Hollander. "I am innocent." Jodie Foster. STXFilms/ Youtube Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley. STXFilms/ Youtube As Hollander gets closer to the truth of Slahi's detainment and the practices of the U.S. military's detention camp, she realizes the battle for justice on Slahi's behalf will be much harder to come by. "You know, I think I’ve figured out why they built Guantanamo down there. My client, he’s not a suspect," she says. "He’s a witness." The film, directed by The Last King of Scotland's Kevin Macdonald, is based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay without a charge from 2002 until his release in October 2016. Jodie Foster on the 'Real Test' Women Directors Face and the Lessons She Wants to Teach Them In 2005, Salahi wrote a memoir about his experiences in the camp while imprisoned called Guantánamo Diary, which was published 10 years later in 2015. Salahi wrote four other books while detained, but he has not been allowed to access his published works since his removal from the camp. He is the first detainee to publish a memoir while imprisoned. The movie also stars Zachary Levi, Langley Kirkwood, Corey Johnson, Matthew Marsh and Andre Jacobs. The Mauritanian is in theaters on Feb. 19, 2021. Close