Control Room

Documentary by Jihane Noujaim about war, truth and the media, focusing in particular on the 2003 Iraq conflict. Noujaim and her film crew visit the headquarters of Al-Jazeera, the first commercial non-state-owned Arab satellite channel, to find out what the news looks like from the 'other side'. As well as interviewing producers and journalists from Al-Jazeera, Noujaim talks to American correspondents from American news channels NBC and CNN. The resulting documentary raises difficult and disturbing questions about the ethics of a media-managed war, and the function of propaganda in Western society. The film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.