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| Documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim is in an interesting position to raise the question. As an Egyptian American, she considers herself a part of both the American and Arab worlds. She is not so much trying to push her views of the war, rather she wants to show us that there are other ways of looking at what is happening. |
(2004) Film Review by Darrel Manson |
| This page was created on July 6, 2004
This page was last updated on
July 6, 2004
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| CREDITS |
| Directed by Jehane Noujaim
Producers
Alan Oxman ... co-producer
Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt ... co-producer
Andrew Rossi ... associate producer
Hani Salama ... producer
Rosadel Varela ... producer
Cast
Hassan Ibrahim ... Himself
Tom Mintier ... Himself
Original Music by Thomas DeRenzo
Edited by
Julia Bacha
Lilah Bankier
Charles Marquardt
Alan Oxman
Miscellaneous Crew
Mona El Daief ... music supervisor
Rebecca Haimowitz ... post-production associate
Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt ... additional editor
Louis Spiegler ... executive consultant
Distributors
Magnolia Pictures (USA)
Rated
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG |
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| SYNOPSIS |
 In the early days of the war in Iraq, Americans could turn on their televisions twenty-four hours a day and take a front row seat with coalition troops careening across the desert. We could follow the action live as precision bombers brought Iraqi cities to their knees and American POWs were rescued and triumphantly returned home as television
heroes. We could watch soldiers toppling statues of Saddam Hussein.
But as Americans witnessed U.S. victory at home, a different story unfolded on television sets throughout the Arab world. Qatari-based Al-Jazeera broadcast images of Iraqi civilian casualties and American POWs that were taboo in the American media. Many claim that as a result, America barred Al- Jazeera journalists from reporting on Wall Street and bombed their headquarters in Baghdad.
As the saying goes there are always two sides to every story, but in a media-managed war where does the truth lie?
With exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Al- Jazeera, American journalists, and the players at Central Command, CONTROL ROOM takes an unprecedented look at the business of war.
Uniquely qualified with a cross-cultural perspective, Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com), travels to the headquarters of Al-Jazeera and U.S. Central Command to capture the staging of the war in Iraq and the media's vital role in writing history. |
 Review by
DARREL MANSON BLOG
Pastor, Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts. His reviews usually include independent and significantly important film. |
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A few days after viewing Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's anti-Bush diatribe (which I liked, by the way, in spite of its many excesses), I watched what may be a far more important film that deals with the Iraq war, Control Room, a documentary about the way the news of the war was
shared with American and Arab audiences, with special focus on Al Jazeera's coverage. Its importance lies not so much in its message as in its ability to show us a different view of the war alongside what we saw on our own news media.
Al Jazeera is an Arab news channel. It has been banned from several Arab countries because it has been critical of the governments. In the days before the Iraq war started, Saddam Hussein threatened to expel Al Jazeera from Iraq if it kept broadcasting US propaganda. At the same time,
the American government was accusing it of pro-Iraq bias and called it the "mouthpiece of Osama bin Laden." Who is to be believed?
That is in some ways a key question this film raises about the news from the early weeks of the war in Iraq - who is to be believed?
Documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim is in an interesting position to raise the question. As an Egyptian American, she considers herself a part of both the American and Arab worlds. She is not so much trying to push her views of the war, rather she wants to show us that there are other ways of looking at what is happening. It becomes clear that the Arab reporters and the Arab world had much different perspectives than Americans. Those perspectives shape the way the news is presented.
Who is to be believed?
The film is, for the most part, divided between Al Jazeera's headquarters and Centcom, the pressroom in Qatar where the military issued its briefings. Reporters from many agencies, including Al Jazeera, all reported the news from this location.
The impression of Al Jazeera I came away with was that they were professional journalists who were trying, just like the other journalists, to find a way of showing and telling the world what was happening in the war. Because Al Jazeera is based in the Arab world, it was important for them to show what was happening to Arabs, just as the American media focused more on what was happening
to American soldiers. Who is to be believed?
This leads to some very different ways of viewing the events. The film shows American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld claiming that Al Jazeera stages scenes with women and children in bombed out buildings. The film also shows the scene from downtown Baghdad in which people tear down the statue of Saddam. As the Al Jazeera
people watch it, it seems obvious to them that this scene is staged -- and their comments make that possibility believable. Who is to be believed?
Some of the best footage in this film involves a Marine press officer, Lt. Josh Rushing, whose job it is to explain the US position and policy to the Arab press. We see clips from some of the conversations and debates he has with the reporters and producers. He is fair and open-minded. He is very willing to listen to them and their perceptions. At times, he also recognizes that there are things about who he is that clouds the ways he sees things.
Those conversations are wonderful examples of people talking with each other, not at each other. There is a give and take of ideas and views. We learn how Americans view the Middle East is very different from the way Arabs view the area. We learn that when Arabs see news footage from the war, it affects them very differently from the way it affects Americans. The same footage will be understood in different ways. Who is to be believed?
Regardless of one's view of the war, Control Room will provide insight that you haven't had before. The film doesn't push either a pro- or an anti-war view. It is neither pro-American nor pro-Arab. It is a search for truth, just as the news media -- be it CNN, Fox News or Al Jazeera --
all have truth as their goal. To be sure, each outlet has its own biases, and Noujaim no doubt also has hers. Truth can be very elusive. We should seek the truth in every way possible. The different understandings, whether from CNN, the military spokespeople, or Al Jazeera all shed light on that truth.
Who is to be believed? Never an easy question. Control Room understands that if we are to appreciate one another as people and cultures, we must be willing to see the truth from other perspectives. |
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