Karim Saleh (right) plays terrorist Ziad Jarrah in the drama documentary

British drama documentary Hamburg Cell tells how terrorist Ziad Jarrah helped hijack United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

It was shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival on Wednesday.

Director Antonia Bird said she would be "really intrigued" to see how viewers reacted to the movie.

New experience

Bird previously directed Face and Priest, and television films Rehab, Care and series The Men's Room.

Speaking outside the UGC cinema complex at Edinburgh's Fountain Park, she said of Hamburg Cell: "It was completely different for me - a new experience to make a drama documentary.

"Ever since the events, I started thinking about who the people were who occupied these roles.

"We knew nothing of them, so I found it fascinating to discover how these men got involved."

Ziad Jarrah helped hijack the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania

She added: "Because of Michael Moore's film [Farenheit 9/11] people are much more open to the whole subject matter than they were a few months ago."

Hamburg Cell follows Jarrah's journey from being a student in Hamburg, through to his conversion to jihad and his death as a hijacker.

Much of the film follows his attempts to reconcile his new faith with his previous character.

Actor Karim Saleh, who plays Jarrah, said: "I am still as shocked [about the attacks] as I was in the beginning, but now I have more information about who those people were.

"I learnt about how those people are looked at and how those events affected people emotionally and psychologically."