Jehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaimis an Egyptian American documentary film director best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com, Pangea Day and The Square, the latter of which earned her a nomination for an Academy Award...
NationalityEgyptian
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth17 May 1974
CountryEgypt
change people power starts whether
Now, I don't know whether a film can change the world, but I know that it starts - I know the power of it - I know that it starts people thinking about how to change the world.
love-is goal people
I'll continue making films because I love being able to drop into other people's worlds. My goal is to be constantly learning.
people challenges conflict
In making films, I'm constantly looking for people who are in conflict and who are going to surprise you and challenge you.
people film i-can
I've discovered I can't make a film about people I dislike.
character people complexes
I'm interested in characters that are complex people.
issues volunteer people
I used to do volunteer work in poor areas of Cairo, and people would gather their money together to get a satellite dish. You'd see them huddling around and for the first time seeing issues being debated on TV that had never been talked about before. And that is the biggest promoter of democracy you could possibly have.
creativity people hardship
It's incredible to see the creativity, beauty and hardships people capture when filmmaking is opened up and shared with the world.
again life qualified social
It would be nice to be in one place for a while and have a social life again and get a job. But I'm not qualified to do anything. That's the problem.
felt sitting watching
I think everybody's had that feeling of sitting in a theater, in a dark room, with other strangers, watching a very powerful film, and they felt that feeling of transformation.
anybody basis dialogue egyptian exact forth information midwest news stories travel understand
When you have an American mother from the Midwest and an Egyptian father, you travel back and forth and see such completely different stories in the news about the exact same events. It makes you think, 'How is anybody able to understand or even have a dialogue when the basis of information is just so completely different?'
across banned east jordan kicked sudan totally
There are different opinions across the Middle East of Al-Jazeera. They've been kicked out of Egypt and Jordan and then let back in; they've been totally banned from Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria.
I don't know if there's such a thing as objectivity.
taken fighting rights
Look at the Civil Rights Movement. Look at any kind of fight for change. People had to keep fighting and taking their rights. Rights are never given to you. They have to be fought for and they have to be taken.
father egypt would-be
Al Jazeera is demonized by the United States, yet in Egypt my father would be watching it.