Jehane Noujaim
Filmmaker documenting her search for truth
Two weeks before the US invasion in Iraq, Jehane went to Qatar, gained access to both Al Jazeera and the US military's Central Command offices, and caught the onset and outbreak of the Iraqi war on film. The result: Control Room, her controversial, gutsy documentary that lays out the divergent ways the war was reported by the Arabs and the West. Being raised between Egypt and the US, the exploration of culture is one of Jehane's driving forces.
Her reason for making the film: "It's important for everyone, simply as individuals, to try to understand different people and different cultures, but it's especially important for people in the United States because we affect so much of the world beyond our borders."
Before Control Room, Jehane produced and directed Startup.com in association with Pennebaker Hegedus Films. The acclaimed feature-length documentary follows two New Yorkers on the dotcom roller coaster as they attempt to start up Govworks, a website linking citizens and their local governments. Before culture even begins to shift, Jehane is there with her camera, trusting that the story to unfold is one that will change us.
