Jehane Noujaim Movies
- 2006
Encounter Point takes a look at the growing grassroots peace movement among Israelis and Palestinians. Directors Ronit Avni, who is the founder and director of Just Vision, a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging grassroots peace organizations like those that are the focus of the film, and Julia Bacha, who co-wrote and edited Control Room, the acclaimed documentary about Al-Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war, focus on several individuals who have responded to personal tragedies caused by the conflict by becoming activists for peace. The subjects include Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian who served several years in Israeli prisons for his participation as a teen in the first Intifada, and whose brother was killed by Israeli soldiers; Robi Damelin, whose son, an Israeli soldier, was killed by a Palestinian sniper; Sami Al Jundi, a Palestinian former militant who is now the supervisor of the Seeds of Peace center in Jerusalem; Tzvika Shahak, an Israeli whose teenage daughter was killed in a terrorist bombing in 1996; George Sa'adeh, a Palestinian whose own young daughter was killed by soldiers at a checkpoint when they mistakenly opened fire on his family's car; and Shlomo Zagman, a devoutly religious former settler who rejected his right-wing upbringing and left the territories in an effort to learn more about the conflict from the Palestinian side. The filmmakers profile these individuals and show them at work, trying to overcome the obstacles that the Israeli government, the media, and decades of ingrained antagonism have placed in their path.Encounter Point had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, and won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ali Abu Awwad, Robi Damelin, (more)
Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com) directs Control Room, a documentary investigating the ethics of media-managed wars. This film particularly focuses on the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Noujaim and her film crew travel to the headquarters of Al-Jazeera, the media leader in the Arab world, to find out what the news looks like in Iraq. She interviews several journalists and producers involved in war reporting for Al-Jazeera, including senior producer Sameer Khader, journalist Hassan Ibrahim, and producer Deema Khatib. Noujaim also interviews American correspondents David Shuster from NBC and Tom Mintier from CNN. Control Room premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the American Spectrum program. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sameer Khader, Lt. Josh Rushing, (more)
Roger Friedman is an entertainment journalist and music fan with a particular love for R&B and soul music from the mid-'50s to the pre-disco era of the early '70s. Owing in part to segregated booking policies and simple lack of proper archiving, Friedman discovered there is little or no surviving film footage or videotape of many of the greatest artists of the era performing on-stage. However, a large number of the performers in question were still active and performing on a regular basis, and with the help of documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, Friedman set out to capture some of his favorites on film while they were still in good form. Only the Strong Survive features knockout performances from such R&B legends as Wilson Pickett, Jerry Butler, the Chi-Lites, Carla Thomas, Mary Wilson, Ann Peebles, and many more, as well as interviews in which the artists discuss the ups and downs of their lives in music. Only the Strong Survive also features performance footage of Memphis R&B pioneer Rufus Thomas, who had passed on at the age of 84, less than two months before the film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Bell, Jerry Butler, (more)
Two men discover the perils of going into business with their friends as they observe the rise and fall of their Internet firm over the course of its first (and only) year in this documentary produced by D.A. Pennebaker. Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman first met while they were in high school; they studied business together in college, and they remained close friends after graduating, often bandying about the idea of working together. In May of 1999, they made their dream a reality and opened Govworks.com, a Web-based firm devoted to helping people deal more efficiently with local governments (it began as a notion to pay parking tickets online). Govworks.com soon exploded, going from a one-room office with a tiny staff to over 200 employees and a bankroll of $50 million. However, like many other Internet firms of their day, Govworks.com was not destined to succeed, and by January of 2001, the company had let nearly all its employees go, and was eventually swallowed up by a larger firm, with Herman and Isaza Tuzman having little to show for their efforts. Just as significantly, after their initial burst of enthusiasm, Herman and Isaza Tuzman found themselves locking horns, as they displayed their naivete about the nuts and bolts of making an Internet start-up work; Herman's gentle nature clashed with Isaza Tuzman's all-business approach, and eventually Herman was forced out of the company he had helped to found by his longtime friend. Directors Jehane Noujaim and Chris Hegedus shot Startup.com using digital video equipment, and to keep the film as timely as possible, screened a digital copy of the film, which went through its final edit only days before its premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
