The optimistic viewer will see in all this blunt and messy contrariness the emergence of the first free press in the Arab world.
Control Room
Different channels. Different truths.
2004 · 1h 24m · Not Rated
Documentary
Directed by
Jehane Noujaim
Overview
A chronicle which 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 (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
Director and cast
- Jehane Noujaim Director
- Samir Khader as Himself
- Josh Rushing as Himself (as Lt. Josh Rushing)
- George W. Bush as Himself (archive footage)
- Hassan Ibrahim as Self - Reporter, Al Jazeera
- Abdul Jabbar Al-Kubeisi as Self - Iraqi Dissident
- Nabeel Khoury as Self - Spokesman, US State Department
- David Shuster as Self - Correspondent, MSNBC
- Tom Mintier Cast
- Muafak Tawfik Cast
- Omar Al-Issawi Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Given that most Americans know the network only by reputation, or via Donald Rumsfeld's public denunciations of it, a little more objective information would not have gone amiss.
Noujaim's documentary is clearly sympathetic to the journalists of Al-Jazeera, who all seem to be professional, intelligent and reasonable, but it is not blindly biased.
Modest in scope and not as well structured as it could have been, Control Room may not seem all that compelling 10 years down the road. But right now, at this very moment, it is essential, imperative viewing.
More illuminating than not, and shines its brightest light on a truth that war and warmongers so ferociously ignore: Look hard into the other's camp and what you'll likely see is yourself.
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