Control Room can sit alongside the documentaries Fahrenheit 9/11 and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism as a film that may influence this coming election.
Control Room, directed by Jehane Noujaim, is a chronicle that provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
Control Room has just been released on DVD.
Daniel Robert Epstein: When you started Control Room back in March 2003, did you think it would have as much relevance as it did when the movie was released?
Jehane Noujaim: Im not somebody that tries to think ahead about how something is going to play out, because if you try to plan too much, whats that quote? God laughs at you. But I have always thought that these issues would have relevance. It didnt have to be about Al Jazeera or the Iraq War, necessarily, but about people who are trying to understand the truth, and to bring two cultures together. Those feelings of Arab nationalism and the different ways both cultures perceive different events will always exist, whether it was about this war, or if we were attacking Iran right now.
DRE: Control Room did well at the Film Forum, as did your first movie Startup.com.
JN: Yes, so it was exciting for it to open at the same place again. When it opened, I was living around the corner from the Film Forum, so it was pretty amazing to go over there and see the line of people. I dont think the producers felt there would be such a large audience for the film, so its been really amazing.
DRE: How much did you know about Al Jazeera before you started the movie?
JN: I had already left Egypt for Harvard when Al Jazeera started. I wasnt somebody that was watching it to get my news everyday. I knew what people were saying about it, and I knew it was extremely popular in Egypt. I grew up in Egypt when there was state run television and all the news began with his Excellency It felt like an arm of the government which leads people not to trust what they see on the news. When Al Jazeera launched, it was criticizing the government and a number of Arab regimes. It was kicked out of about ten Arab governments because it criticized the corruption in the government. It had debate shows about whether women should wear the veil and whether religion should play a role in the government. These were issues that were previously discussed behind closed doors. So for me, these guys were revolutionary in the Middle East for bringing up topics that had never been discussed before. When I went back to Egypt to visit my family, it was in every coffee shop across Cairo. There is a tradition there of people sitting in coffee shops discussing what is happening in the world and politics. So Al Jazeera caused a lot of debates amongst the people.
Then I would come back to the States where Al Jazeera had become a topic after 9/11 because they showed the tapes of Osama Bin Laden. I was thinking that if Al Jazeera is pissing off the entire world, that they must be doing something right. I wanted to know who was behind it. I would watch it occasionally when I was in Egypt, and it had a lot of western production values. It was flashier and it had music. But I would say that since they were pushing boundaries and upsetting governments, that was what intrigued me.
DRE: Is there any news network in the States that compares to Al Jazeera?
JN: Its so hard to do that because in the United States we have so much more to choose from. The big difference is that when you get to the news network level here, youre so established, and youre funded by a big corporation. There is a line of approval that stories have to go through. I would say that Al Jazeera puts their foot out there a little more, thereby putting their foot in their mouths a bit more. I think that leads to a lot of positives and negatives. In the States its mostly radio and print that talk about the issues. When I went to film the Western journalists in the Middle East, they had all signed contracts with their companies that they couldnt give their personal opinions on camera. Peter Arnett had just been fired for speaking to Iraqi television. People wouldnt even speak for the documentary after I told them I would distort their voices and cover their face.
DRE: A lot of people say that Americans cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Was that one of the points of Control Room?
JN: Its important to show how the rest of the world thinks of the US. I think that across the world you do have that general stereotype about Americans. That even though we have our troops employed all over the world, we understand the least about what we are doing abroad. I dont think I had a particular point going into the movie, but just to follow people who were trying to figure out for themselves what was going on. When you follow people who are under a lot of pressure, their true emotions come to the surface. I didnt go to prove any political point.
DRE: Was it tough to find a story?
JN: It was tough to get access. Al Jazeera originally said to come back after the war, and I said that I had to be there now because thats when people would be under the most pressure. Once I got into Al Jazeera, it wasnt difficult to find the people. I quickly met Hassan Ibrahim who has a real love for the United States and was a Deadhead for a year. He was someone I never expected to find at Al Jazeera. He took government classes with Dick Cheney, and went to grade school with Osama Bin Laden. He had lost his best friend in the World Trade Center attack, so he was somebody I felt had really experienced the issues we are dealing with in the world. He was someone I wanted to be around during the war, so I could hear his impressions. Samir Khader was also a surprise. because I would ask the lefty question of the US occupying Iraq, and he would respond with What is occupation? The US troops are everywhere. Im not going to say Im against the war because it may turn out to be good for Iraq. He was always challenging the questions and proving he wasnt just an Arab nationalist with a one-sided opinion. I think that if you find the charismatic people that challenge you and surprise you, it is then that you feel like you have a story. We followed six people, then narrowed it down to three people in the editing room.
DRE: Was it ever scary to be over there?
JN: No, because where we were it was all foreign journalists. One of our main characters wore her tight jeans and ran around ordering the guys around. It was a pretty forward thinking place.
DRE: What about being over there in the middle of the war?
JN: Well I was in Qatar, which is 700 miles from Iraq, and there was a very large American military base there. The only freaky thing that happened was that I was talking to my producer on the phone, and then I started hearing these clicks on my phone. Then I met the person that set up the tapping systems and he said my phone was definitely tapped because when they said if you said certain words like Bin Laden and terrorist, that it would automatically start monitoring your phone. That was the closest I felt to being watched.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Control Room, directed by Jehane Noujaim, is a chronicle that provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
Control Room has just been released on DVD.
Daniel Robert Epstein: When you started Control Room back in March 2003, did you think it would have as much relevance as it did when the movie was released?
Jehane Noujaim: Im not somebody that tries to think ahead about how something is going to play out, because if you try to plan too much, whats that quote? God laughs at you. But I have always thought that these issues would have relevance. It didnt have to be about Al Jazeera or the Iraq War, necessarily, but about people who are trying to understand the truth, and to bring two cultures together. Those feelings of Arab nationalism and the different ways both cultures perceive different events will always exist, whether it was about this war, or if we were attacking Iran right now.
DRE: Control Room did well at the Film Forum, as did your first movie Startup.com.
JN: Yes, so it was exciting for it to open at the same place again. When it opened, I was living around the corner from the Film Forum, so it was pretty amazing to go over there and see the line of people. I dont think the producers felt there would be such a large audience for the film, so its been really amazing.
DRE: How much did you know about Al Jazeera before you started the movie?
JN: I had already left Egypt for Harvard when Al Jazeera started. I wasnt somebody that was watching it to get my news everyday. I knew what people were saying about it, and I knew it was extremely popular in Egypt. I grew up in Egypt when there was state run television and all the news began with his Excellency It felt like an arm of the government which leads people not to trust what they see on the news. When Al Jazeera launched, it was criticizing the government and a number of Arab regimes. It was kicked out of about ten Arab governments because it criticized the corruption in the government. It had debate shows about whether women should wear the veil and whether religion should play a role in the government. These were issues that were previously discussed behind closed doors. So for me, these guys were revolutionary in the Middle East for bringing up topics that had never been discussed before. When I went back to Egypt to visit my family, it was in every coffee shop across Cairo. There is a tradition there of people sitting in coffee shops discussing what is happening in the world and politics. So Al Jazeera caused a lot of debates amongst the people.
Then I would come back to the States where Al Jazeera had become a topic after 9/11 because they showed the tapes of Osama Bin Laden. I was thinking that if Al Jazeera is pissing off the entire world, that they must be doing something right. I wanted to know who was behind it. I would watch it occasionally when I was in Egypt, and it had a lot of western production values. It was flashier and it had music. But I would say that since they were pushing boundaries and upsetting governments, that was what intrigued me.
DRE: Is there any news network in the States that compares to Al Jazeera?
JN: Its so hard to do that because in the United States we have so much more to choose from. The big difference is that when you get to the news network level here, youre so established, and youre funded by a big corporation. There is a line of approval that stories have to go through. I would say that Al Jazeera puts their foot out there a little more, thereby putting their foot in their mouths a bit more. I think that leads to a lot of positives and negatives. In the States its mostly radio and print that talk about the issues. When I went to film the Western journalists in the Middle East, they had all signed contracts with their companies that they couldnt give their personal opinions on camera. Peter Arnett had just been fired for speaking to Iraqi television. People wouldnt even speak for the documentary after I told them I would distort their voices and cover their face.
DRE: A lot of people say that Americans cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Was that one of the points of Control Room?
JN: Its important to show how the rest of the world thinks of the US. I think that across the world you do have that general stereotype about Americans. That even though we have our troops employed all over the world, we understand the least about what we are doing abroad. I dont think I had a particular point going into the movie, but just to follow people who were trying to figure out for themselves what was going on. When you follow people who are under a lot of pressure, their true emotions come to the surface. I didnt go to prove any political point.
DRE: Was it tough to find a story?
JN: It was tough to get access. Al Jazeera originally said to come back after the war, and I said that I had to be there now because thats when people would be under the most pressure. Once I got into Al Jazeera, it wasnt difficult to find the people. I quickly met Hassan Ibrahim who has a real love for the United States and was a Deadhead for a year. He was someone I never expected to find at Al Jazeera. He took government classes with Dick Cheney, and went to grade school with Osama Bin Laden. He had lost his best friend in the World Trade Center attack, so he was somebody I felt had really experienced the issues we are dealing with in the world. He was someone I wanted to be around during the war, so I could hear his impressions. Samir Khader was also a surprise. because I would ask the lefty question of the US occupying Iraq, and he would respond with What is occupation? The US troops are everywhere. Im not going to say Im against the war because it may turn out to be good for Iraq. He was always challenging the questions and proving he wasnt just an Arab nationalist with a one-sided opinion. I think that if you find the charismatic people that challenge you and surprise you, it is then that you feel like you have a story. We followed six people, then narrowed it down to three people in the editing room.
DRE: Was it ever scary to be over there?
JN: No, because where we were it was all foreign journalists. One of our main characters wore her tight jeans and ran around ordering the guys around. It was a pretty forward thinking place.
DRE: What about being over there in the middle of the war?
JN: Well I was in Qatar, which is 700 miles from Iraq, and there was a very large American military base there. The only freaky thing that happened was that I was talking to my producer on the phone, and then I started hearing these clicks on my phone. Then I met the person that set up the tapping systems and he said my phone was definitely tapped because when they said if you said certain words like Bin Laden and terrorist, that it would automatically start monitoring your phone. That was the closest I felt to being watched.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
AndersWolleck said:
cthav said:
A wonderful documentary. Glad you guys interviewed him.
no prob but thats a woman
man. woman. same thing.
also, on the phone clicking thing, i've had that happen a lot, always when there's a cell phone on at least one end of the call. i've researched echelon before and what i've come up with is that the keywords vary by what they're listening for. some days it might be drug-related, some days it might be terrorist related, or whatever. but the sites i found all said that they have dictionaries of keywords for each topc they listen for.
the cell phone issue is because they can monitor electronic transactions, like posting this comment, and microwave and raido transmissions. just list out loud a bunch of words relating to, for example terrorism, and a few seconds later you get two or three clicks like another line joining the conversation, only nobody answers because it's just a recorder to be studied later.
anyway, per the rest of the interview, i generally go for international news sources anyway because all the domestic news sources are as good as state-run anyway, and i have no morals to offend by the graphic nature of the real news. i used to use gala.net a lot but now i don't think russian news sources can be trusted anymore either.