| | |  | EGYPT | Home » » Control Room | | | | | | | Description: | | Control room is a rate film that is both timely and timeless: timeless because it ecplores the ancient and complex relationship between the western and Arab worlds timely because it reveals how satellite television has changed the way wars are reported- from news providers driven by the patriotism of their audiences to army information officers driven by military objectives. Control room is a seminal documentary that explores how truth is gathered presented and ultimately created by those who deliver it.System Requirements: Running Time 86 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 031398169321 Manufacturer No: 16932 | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Samir Khader, Josh Rushing, George W. Bush, Hassan Ibrahim, Deema Khatib | | Director:
| Jehane Noujaim | | Format:
| Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| Arabic, English | | Subtitle:
| Arabic, English, French, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Lions Gate | | Run Time:
| 84 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| October 26, 2004 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 108 reviews |
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Average Customer Review:
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174 of 189 found the following review helpful:
 Fair and balanced news? Isn't that what they all say?Nov 27, 2004
By Linda Linguvic
This award winning 2003 documentary tells the story of the war in Iraq from the point of view of Al Jazeera, the television network that brings the news to 40 million people in the Arab-speaking world. Many of the challenges it faces are shared by journalists everywhere. They risk their lives to bring a story to the people. And they are all under pressure to spin the story to their employers' wishes.
The viewer meets the people who produce this news network. There's the director Samir Khader, the chain smoking and cynical head of the organization. He freely admits he'd be willing to work for Fox News if offered the job and wants to send his children to America for their educations. There's Hassan Ibrahim, a former BBC correspondent. He's a well-spoken pudgy man with a clear mind, who sees the world through a slightly different filter that I do. And a lot of what he says makes sense challenging my perceptions on a very human level. There's Deema Khatib, one of the Al Jazeera staff members, whose playful expressive large brown eyes sparkle with a great sense of humor, She's unveiled and modern and obviously well educated. Then there is Lieutenant Josh Rushing, who clearly is doing his best to explain U.S. policy. He's blue eyed and personable and very American and has a calm demeanor and a high intellect. His interchanges with Al Jazeera personnel show a depth of understanding for all sides of the question. And yet he is steadfast in his support of America.
The film begins in March 2003 as American troops invade Iraq. Al Jazeera shows pictures of the casualties. The American news media does not. Al Jazeera is fast to point out some troubling realities of American foreign policy. And, in this documentary at least, it attempts show that its news coverage is fair and balanced. But then, again, isn't that what they all say?
This film made me think.
And what made me think even more were the special features included on the DVD which show more interviews with the subjects of the film and adds a bit of humanity to them all, including the American Lieutenant who has the hard job of trying to placate all sides.
The situation in the world today is complex. I came away with more insight into its depths. There are no real answers. Only serious questions.
This is fine and troubling film that challenges all our perceptions. Highly recommended.
33 of 37 found the following review helpful:
So much more than bargined for...Oct 05, 2004
By Amber N. King
"be the change you wish to see in the world! Ghandi"
This documentary is spell binding and without spin.... It was an instant-replay to the start of the war all over again from an unfiltered lens, most refreshing. Michael Moore had all the fireworks and media blitz but this little gem had all the details. This is truely a movie to celebrate the free speech and to gain an understanding of others. America it's time to take off the blinders and re-evaluate our country and what it means to all of us. Cheers to Jehane and her crew for making such an important piece of film.
27 of 31 found the following review helpful:
 Out-"Foxed" by Al-Jazeera...Media Spin is MultilingualOct 23, 2004
By Ed Uyeshima
Having just seen Robert Greenwald's "Outfoxed" about the media manipulation we are subjected to by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, specifically the Fox Network, this eye-opening documentary is a fascinating counterpoint from the perspective of the famous and sometimes infamous Middle East news agency, Al-Jazeera. I cannot think of two more diametrically opposite news agencies reporting on the events in Iraq, but the key difference between them is that Al-Jazeera appears to admit to their biases rather than claim to be "fair and balanced". What is more startling is how much more similar they are in operation than they are different in their presentation of political opinion disguised as facts. Obviously filmmaker Jehane Noujaim takes a more sympathetic portrait of Al-Jazeera and does supply clear evidence where Al-Jazeera is right and the American government is wrong on certain Iraqi events. As an overview of the first independent and now most popular news channel in the Middle East, the film takes a hard look at the key milestones from Bush's threat of invasion through the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
One would think Michael Moore funded this documentary from the damning evidence presented, but Noujaim is nothing but thorough in illustrating the Bush administration's changing rationales for invading Iraq, the use of fear in the media to manipulate public opinion, the martyrdom of Jessica Lynch, the card deck identifying the most wanted men in Hussein's regime, and the suspiciously coincidental bombing deaths of three different Arab journalists on the same day by American planes. Al-Jazeera's perspective is unsurprisingly countered by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, who accuses the news agency of faking pictures of civilian deaths. But Noujaim cuts to indisputable pictures of real victims from the American bombing. One of the most revealing moments in the film is the Al-Jazeera team's shocked disbelief witnessing the fall of Hussein's Iraq as they try to make their emotional response correspond to what they must rationally have expected all along. Noujaim spotlights several of Al-Jazeera's personalities, and each provides a unique opinion on both their news coverage as well as that of their American counterparts. Their begrudging respect for the Fox Network, for example, is an intriguing revelation among many presented here. Ultimately though, their disgust over American imperialism is clear, as reporter Hassan Ibrahim, as bitter an idealist as you'll ever see, decries, "Eventually you'll have to find a solution that doesn't involve bombing someone into submission... democratize or I will shoot you." Another eye-opener is how Al-Jazeera does not hesitate to invite Americans to give their point-of-view on the network, which is something the Fox Network purports to do but does so miserably due to the bullying tactics of their own personalities, Sean Hannity and of course, Bill O'Reilly. Those who have grown tired of the spin coming from the Bush administration will find this documentary valuable viewing. Highly recommended.
23 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Excellent documentarySep 06, 2004
By David Chatenay
This movie is absolutely essential if you want to get a glimpse on how the arab world felt during the war in Iraq. This is a great documentary: no voice over, no questions or interviews, no one-on-one sessions: mostly bits of life captured while following journalists of Al-Jazeera. Some may find this a bit too one-sided, but hey: this is about Al-Jazeera, not about the press coverage of the war. Although for contrast, I'd really like to see the same documentary filmed inside CNN or Fox News.
I have to say that I was amazed by the knowledge, the culture, the humor and the sharp analysis that is displayed by all the protagonists. It makes this documentary truly enjoyable. I felt a lot of empathy with the journalists, watching them struggle, endure the insults and the hatred of the rest of the media and the US administration: they were showing what noone else wanted to show, they questionned the army spin and brought the arab point of view, and a lot of people despised them for that.
This is a very intersting movie, if you want to get both sides of the story. This is also a great documentary.
16 of 18 found the following review helpful:
Unremarkable film at a remarkable timeOct 19, 2004
By Jean E. Pouliot
Rabid Muslims spouting anti-American rhetoric! Pro-terror loyalists in charge of a world-wide media outlet! Saddam sycophants singing a siren song, leading our children into godless Communism or godfull Islam!
So sorry. "Control Room" is none of these.
The film, a documentary about the Al-Jazeera network by Jehane Noujaim, does make a few very simple points. First, non-Americans have a different perspective than we do. Second, not many of them carry bombs. Third, they are often calm, rational and even nice.
In any other time, "Control Room" might be a rather bland Frontline-style documentary piece about a journalistic source in the Arab world. In today's polarized world of us-versus-them, however, it has become subversive to declare, ever so gently, that human beings with different points of view have anything worthwhile to say to Americans. This simple point is brought home by the sight of a roomful of Al-Jazeera technicians watching the fall of Bagdad in 2003. Where Americans might have reacted with glee or some form of relief or satisfaction, the Al Jazeera techs are dumbstruck and crestfallen. They can't believe that a proud and seemingly powerful Arab country like Iraq could be conquered so quickly. The sense of disappointment, humiliation and dismay are palpable. How much more so for the uneducated masses who are susceptible to manipulation by radicals?
"Control Room" does not proselytize about the rightness of Al Jazeera's viewpoint. It merely presents us with the sight of rather ordinary journalists trying to do their jobs in the context of a clash of eastern and western cultures. Its depictions of Lieutenant Joshua Rushing, US press liaison in Baghdad is telling. Rushing tries mightily to convey American motivations and strategies to his Al Jazeera contacts. He seems perplexed and uncertain when they challenge his assumptions. Rushing tries hard to understand them, but it seems that he has two choices: to believe his own government's line, or to switch to the other man's. Clearly questioning his own logic, he cannot bring himself (for cultural and professional reasons) to accept the opposing viewpoint. "Control Room" expertly uses such poignant scenes to depict the struggle of well-intentioned people and the disparate "truths" they represent. What gave this film its immediacy was the context of the recent conflict in Iraq. Without that, it would not have been all that interesting.
You might leave the film without changing your opinions. You might, however, pause a moment before assuming that your side of the issue, whatever it might be, is the only one worth talking about.
So much for controversy.
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