‘Control Room’ pushes buttons

A documentary about Al Jazeera television drew sharp reactions this week in a rare screening in the Arab world where the popular channel is often banned.

“Control Room” was a surprise hit at U.S. box offices this year with its fly-on-the-wall look at the Arabic channel and its coverage of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

But the response of Arab viewers to the film, which has yet to be distributed in any Arab country, was one of anger and unease at the Dubai International Film Festival.

Many Arab governments have banned Al Jazeera from their countries due to its hard-hitting, controversial reporting in a region where the media is mainly state-dominated. Washington accuses it of provoking anti-U.S. sentiment in the Arab world.

For viewers, the film brought back painful memories of the huge firepower unleashed on Iraq.

It also includes frank discussions among Arab journalists as well as U.S. officials on the motives behind the conflict.

“You’re appalling, you son of a dog. May your house be destroyed,” one Egyptian woman loudly exclaimed at a clip of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as he ridiculed scenes of grieving Iraqis and bombed buildings as “stage-managed.”

Many laughed bitterly at sound bites from President George W. Bush requesting that Iraq treat U.S. prisoners of war as well as the U.S. military treats its POWs. Revelation of U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail has further soured Arab feelings toward Washington.

After a year of taking the film around the United States and the West, director Jehane Noujaim finally brought the film to the Middle East with showings in Dubai and Cairo.

One Lebanese man who lives in Canada said he found it painful to watch the 1 1/2 -hour movie.

“I did not like the film. It made me feel sad,” Gabriel Bakhazi said at a post-movie seminar. “I didn’t see anything to laugh at. Your film made me feel more angry and powerless.”

Hassan Ibrahim, a Sudanese producer at Al Jazeera who is featured in the film, responded: “Why are you afraid of realizing the full gravity of the situation? But I thank you for your honesty, it’s a beautiful reaction. [Former Chinese ruler] Mao Tse-tung said the journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step, and the first step is to realize the gravity of the situation. As a people [Arabs], we have a long journey ahead,” he added to applause.

Al Jazeera now faces stiff competition from rivals such as Al Arabiya that have largely avoided run-ins with Arab governments and Washington with coverage seen as less inflammatory.

Asked whether Al Jazeera had become the Arab version of right-leaning U.S. channel Fox TV, Ibrahim said: “We’ll keep on doing what we’re doing. What the camera sees, we show.”

Al Jazeera officials say the station is currently banned in five Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq.