CONTROL ROOM and MUSICA POLITICA!

Different Channels, Different Truths

"Objectivity is a bit of a mirage"
- Jehane Noujaim (Director of CONTROL ROOM)

MUSICA POLITICA

Immediately following this special screening of CONTROL ROOM Cinema Politica is proud to present the first ever Musica Politica at the Pub starting around 9 pm. Featuring the music of local sensations such as Pat LePoidevan (Winner of Conduct Becoming), Curtis Michaelis (opener for Classified), Corey Isenor, Erich Kromer, Matt Kinney, Kamal Ahmed, Gaafar El Souri and many others playing everything from Flamenco to Hip Hop to Alternative this event promises to rock Sackville harder than it has ever been rocked on a Monday night.

There will be no cover or doorman, all mixed drinks and beer on tap will be $2.00 and pitchers will be $7.50 all night, free drink tickets will be given out and best of all, your simple presence and purchase of drinks will be supporting Cinema Politica.

Click here to check out the Musica Politica Poster

CONTROL ROOM

CONTROL ROOM is probably the best film that Cinema Politica will be showing this semester, and that is saying a hell of a lot! Touted for an Oscar, this darling of critics and audiences alike has racked up numerous awards while coasting to record box office numbers. An incisive look at how news is packaged, Control Room follows two employees of Al-Jazeera and a young U.S. soldier in CentCom charged with massaging the war story in the American press. By following these charismatic and sympathetic characters the film explores the great divide between the west and the rest as democracy falls victim to the overtly political agenda of the American media while the network demonized by George W. Bush as "Osama Bin Ladens mouthpiece" turns out to be a more honest follower of truth and integrity in journalism than any American news network.

With absolute and unparalleled access to the inner workings of Al-Jazeera, starting just days before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, award winning 29 year old Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim combines the internal struggles of individuals trying to come to grips with, and in some cases justify, the U.S. invasion with the broader geopolitical issues of media in the corporate age to produce a barn-burner of a film.

"Perception is key and Control Room should be required viewing for anyone within reach of a TV signal."
- Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

"These insensitive Americans roll over everyone to get their way, and what happens to soft-spoken people like me? We get pushed aside."
- Hassan Ibrahim, Al-Jazeera Journalist, Control Room star

"Whatever your opinions about the war, the conduct of the journalists who covered it and the role of Al Jazeera in that coverage, you are likely to emerge from Control Room touched, exhilarated and a little off-balance, with your certainties scrambled and your assumptions shaken."
- A.O. Scott, New York Times

"A riveting new documentary about the Arab-run Al Jazeera network, reminds us that news programming can vary so widely from place to place that journalistic myths of "objectivity" and "impartiality" seem more naive than ever."
- David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

"Control Room ends by acknowledging that independence, accuracy and even truth itself may be illusory."
- Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer

U.S.A./2004/84 Minutes/English and Arabic (English Subtitles)

Directed by Jehane Noujaim
Written by Julia Bacha and Jehane Noujaim

Official Site

Cinema Politica:
7 pm, Monday, February 6th
Crabtree Auditorium
Admission: Free

Musica Politica:
9 pm, Monday, February 6th
The Pub (Tantramarsh Club)
Admission: FREE