Popcorn Diplomacy

by Kristin Butler
March/April 2008 , Page 27

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Four years ago, Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim previewed a clip of Control Room, her documentary about the Al Jazeera television network, for an Arab audience. In one powerful scene, military press officer Josh Rushing describes the moment he realized that images of dead American soldiers disturbed him more than images of dead Iraqi civilians. For Noujaim, the reaction of the largely anti-American audience was a revelation. “They didn’t want to be his best friend, but they were very curious about him,” she says. “They wanted to have a conversation with him.”

On the heels of Noujaim’s 2001 debut, an investigation of Internet mania called Startup.com, Control Room helped establish Noujaim as a major presence in independent film. But just as important to the director were the documentary’s unexpected consequences. Rushing, for example, ended up leaving the Marine Corps after 14 years to work as a correspondent for the English-language branch of Al Jazeera. Inspired by the changes her film had helped set in motion, Noujaim began to reflect on how again to “start a little spark someplace.” The result is Pangea Day, a festival that will collect dozens of amateur films from across the world and premiere them on a single day, May 10.

Pangea Day is unabashedly idealistic and upbeat: The name refers to the ancient landmass that existed before the continents drifted apart. Noujaim first went public with the idea at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference in 2006, where she received a prize for Control Room. Asked before a crowd of about 1200 to describe a single wish, Noujaim replied “world peace,” then quickly added, “I know what you’re thinking: ‘The poor girl thinks she’s at a Miss America pageant.’” But after she explained her vision of an event celebrating the cross-cultural appeal of local films, TED was sufficiently impressed to reward her with $100,000 in seed money.

Pangea Day will showcase countries that are underrepresented in global pop culture. But for Noujaim, the event’s potential lies not just in unique films but also in where and by whom they are viewed. At eight screenings—in New York; London; Cairo; Tel Aviv; Rio de Janeiro; Kigali, Rwanda; Dharamsala, India; and Ramallah, Palestine—the films will be interspersed with speakers and live music. In addition to the official presentations, volunteers can host their own viewings and post them on a satellite map on the Pangea Day website. “There have been screenings set up in about 60 different countries, from a Bedouin camp to a football stadium,” Noujaim says. The intended effect: to create a sort of “global campfire.” For those who can’t attend a group screening, the films will also be distributed via satellite television, cell phones, and the Internet.

Noujaim knows that for Pangea Day to succeed, she’ll have to offer films that people actually want to watch. “We hope to surprise and definitely to entertain,” she says. Technical sophistication matters less to her than good storytelling: In one submission Noujaim was considering, Indian children pound mud into the shape of a pie, cut it into slices, and pretend to eat it while singing “Happy Birthday.” An unexpected caption at the end of the short asks, “So what are you doing for your birthday this year?” Surprising—but not exactly entertaining. “I doubt it’s going to be a breakthrough in terms of content,” says Mark Harris, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. “But the new model of distribution and the motivation of trying to unite people is revolutionary.”

Noujaim’s passion for bridging cultures stems from her childhood. Growing up in Cairo, she often found herself mediating between her American mother and Egyptian father. When she was 18, police in Cairo shut down her small photo exhibit depicting garbage pickers. That act of censorship spurred her to continue exploring what she calls “the dirty side” of society. After graduating from Harvard in 1996, she landed a job at the now-defunct cable show MTV Unfiltered, which broadcast short films made by viewers—a premise similar to that of Pangea Day. “We sent out cameras to kids and asked them to make films about their family, race, and religion,” Noujaim says. “There was some shaky footage, but these stories couldn’t have been told with as much humor and intimacy had they been filmed by anyone else.”

Along with mentor Chris Hegedus, the Oscar-nominated director of The War Room, Noujaim next directed Startup.com, which followed the misadventures of Noujaim’s college roommate Kaleil Isaza Tuzman. Like Control Room, which was nominated for an Oscar, the documentary won critical acclaim for its nuanced storytelling and timely theme. Still, those who know her describe Noujaim as modest and a touch self-critical. “She’s kind of quiet and mild,” says Rushing, the Al Jazeera reporter. “But look at me: She’s catapulted me into a meaningful life. She has a pollen of creativity and gives it to others through film.”

Despite the complexity of arranging a transnational film festival, Noujaim maintains that the goal of Pangea Day is simply to spark conversation between people who wouldn’t ordinarily speak to one another. “News moves very fast, one story being taken over by another, and we can forget history and lose perspective,” she says. “But film has this incredible ability to open up dialogue. All of a sudden, you have this shared experience that you can talk about."

Watch the Trailer

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