Control Room neatly bridges the gap between timeless and timely: timeless because it locates itself in the midst of the ongoing cultural clash between Western and Arab worlds, timely because it does so through the prism of satellite television's impact on how viewers receive information worldwide-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.
(14 votes)
2.
"It benefits Al-Jazeera to play to Arab nationalism because that's their audience, just like Fox plays to American patriotism, for the exact same reason... because that's their audience... the big thing for my generation is for these two perspectives - my perspective, the Western perspective, and the Arab perspective - to understand each other better... because, truly, the two worlds are colliding at a rapid rate." - Lt. Josh Rushing, Central Command Press Officer, U.S. Army
CONTROL ROOM, by Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com), an award-winning Arab-American filmmaker who has lived within and embraced both worlds, provides an opportunity to re-examine what is perhaps the most pressing question of international relations today: "is America radicalizing or stabilizing the Arab world?" Without miring itself in shadowy conspiracy theories, CONTROL ROOM provides a balanced view of Al-Jazeera's presentation of the second Iraq war to their worldwide Arab audience, and in so doing calls into question many of the prevailing images and positions offered up by the U.S. news media. CONTROL ROOM's view inside Al-Jazeera-a network branded "Osama Bin-Laden's mouthpiece" and subject of intense criticism from U.S. administration officials for showing images of Iraqi casualties and American POWs that American viewers never saw-suggests that its views on news reportage might actually be more in tune with democratic ideals than those of its Western counterparts.
Startling and powerful, Control Room is a documentary about the Arab television network Al-Jazeera's coverage of the U.S.-led Iraqi war, and conflicts that arose in managed perceptions of truth between that news media outlet and the American military. Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com) catches the frantic action at Al-Jazeera headquarters as President Bush stipulates his 48-hour, get-out-of-town warning to Saddam Hussein and sons, soon followed by the network's shocking footage of Iraqi civilians terrorized and killed by invading U.S. troops. Al-Jazeera's determination to show images and report details outside the Pentagon's carefully controlled information flow draws the wrath of American officials, who accuse it of being an al-Qaida propagandist. (The killing of an Al-Jazeera reporter in what appears to be a deliberately targeted air strike is horrifying.) Most fascinating is the way Control Room allows well-meaning, Western-educated, pro-democratic Arabs an opportunity to express views on Iraq as they see it--in an international context, and in a way most Americans never hear about. --Tom Keogh
(12 votes)
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