When a documentary seems like a movie, then it has succeeded in capturing the audience's attention. It induces the audience to listen to and ponder the story that it is telling and here it is a compelling story, one that has to be told. By cutting through all the propaganda and blasting through all the spin the producers of this documentary provide a frank and comprehensive picture of how news coverage is distorted, depending on who controls the flow of information. And this is directly related to the the question of freedom of the press and how that freedom can be eroded if enough pressure is applied. This documentary also reveals several interesting facts relating to the Iraq War itself and the relationship between western and Arab news media, and their relationship with the U. S. military. Ultimately this documentary is about integrity and about why we must have a free and open press that will keep the public informed and shed light on the actions of the government.

Let's face facts folks, especially at this point if not the should-have-been start: American invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. This isn't the core message of Control Room, but it's certainly all encompassing for what Jehane Noujaim wants to say in her documentary Control Room. The argument could be made- and of course has- that Al Jezeera is a militant television network playing to an Arab base, that it shows people damning America all the time and praising Alah and so on and so forth. For the latter I can't say how much is truly shown, even by the documentary's scope. But for the former, the context can't be taken lightly: whether or not it is propagandistic isn't quite the point. When a country gets attacked by another country, it's hard to continue to find praise for the offensive side (and, as we see later in the film, Al-Jezeera was attacked by American planes specifically). Is her perspective meant to show bias? Maybe, maybe not. It's there in plain sight, how much to s*** things went following the American invasion, and yet side has to be taken into question, media, military, civilian.There's plenty of questions to ask by the end of the film, even in a form that isn't with the best production values or the firmest visual hold. Control Room is also terrifying in hindsight- if this is where we were at in going into Iraq (I saw this film in cinemas as the time one week before Fahrenheit 9/11 was released), what about today? It might be even more intriguing to see a follow-up documentary to Control Room, where one sees what has happened some half a decade (and deceased hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives later and thousands of Americans) down the line. But for now, it's a story set in the midst of a conflict established by the Americans to get Sadaam Hussein out of power - and thus throwing the country into a tailspin. And all throughout we're put through the prism of media, of inquiry, of a search for the facts in the midst of two systems shown in the film: American journalism (we see American military interviewed) and Arab journalism, and each side in dialog and argument, with location footage interspersed.In a way it's a dense film in just its 84 minutes. This might be Noujaim's main strength is the accumulation of points of view, of perspectives. It's not just pat a statement to make that Control Room takes the side of the Iraqi's and that's it. There's also accountability taken in. There's an fascinating cross-section that reveals some of Bush's hypocrisy (not hard to do, and there's such an abundance, but just one instance for example), where Bush says that "the people of Iraq will control their own destiny... they will not just say they were following orders." Cut to some footage of Americans, in possible dire straits, being asked by Iraqi's why they're in Iraq. "I'm just following orders," they all say. Is it America, or just Bush? Is it just Sadaam, or a whole mix of Iraqi's that have to be seen through the prism of the media coverage? What is really propaganda? Control Room, ultimately, isn't the greatest of documentaries, mostly in a form that bounces around with the only structure with Bush at the start with his message of "watch out, Iraq, we're attacking now!" to the disgusting message on the Aircraft carrier at the end. But it is an important one, almost like an early, crucial appendage to the more recent No End in Sight. If only for a moment can we have a view into the first huge cluster-f*** of the century, Control Room has a purpose.

I'd heard that this was a pretty good documentary about perspectives on the US-Iraq war so I decided to check it out and I'd have to say, in the end, it was a pretty good documentary. Nothing stellar, but it's actually an interesting and almost vital look at the media machines around the war.For the most part, the documentary maintains some degree of neutrality, however, since it's a documentary that tells the side of the story not presented by US/UK newsmedia, it's obviously going to be told with an emphasis on the Arab (not Iraqi) viewpoint of the story. And that's why it's a vital documentary, as the majority of the "Western world" only sees their own perspective of the conflict, rather than the entire picture.And now for some general thoughts: I think it's always of vital importance that in any conflict, all actors in the conflict be well aware of all perspectives, lest they become blinded by their own interests. Most of the people in the US don't get to see the Arab view of things, except through the tiny lens of the US newsmedia, which is a US interpretation of the Arab view to begin with.That said, the documentary doesn't paint the US in a negative light as a whole, rather, it focuses on specific actions (although it shows a strong bias against Donald Rumsfeld). In the end, however, the film is mostly about the Al Jazeera television network and what they saw and experienced during the war. And from the documentary, you can easily gather that the Al Jazeera is not opposed to the US, but is rather interested in informing and exposing the tales of the Arab/Muslim people and often finds itself in between the radical opponents of the West and the West itself, with both Rumsfeld and Al Queda calling the Al Jazeera a mouthpiece of the other.The story, in the end is about journalism and journalists, torn between their personal and professional worlds and how each seeps into the other. They experience hope, loss and frustration over the course of the film as the truth gets buried under spin, as the truth gets shown, much to the dismay of both sides of the conflict and well... I guess it says something about the nature of truth. It's often a double-edged sword.I'll leave you with a quote from one of the major players in the Al Jazeera:Between us, if I'm offered a job at Fox News, I'll take it. Instantly. I will send my children to go to America after highschool, I will pay for them to go, to exchange the Arab nightmare for the American dream.Excellently put together, with moments that truly shine. 8/10.

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.