Jehane Noujaim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1974-05-17)17 May 1974 (age 50)[1] Washington, D.C. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Documentary film director |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | Karim Amer[2] |
Jehane Noujaim (Arabic:جيهان نجيم,IPA:[ʒeˈhæːnnʊˈʒeːm]) (born May 17, 1974) is an American documentary film director best known for her filmsControl Room,[3]Startup.com,Pangea Day andThe Square. She has co-directedThe Great Hack andThe Vow withKarim Amer.
Noujaim was born to aLebanese father[4][5] and an American mother who was born inConnecticut.[6] She was raised inKuwait andCairo and moved toBoston by the age of 10, in 1984.[7][8] She attendedMilton Academy.[9]
In 1992, Noujaim matriculated toHarvard University, where she initially intended to study medicine.[6] She later switched tovisual arts andphilosophy after taking an interest in photography and filmmaking, graduatingmagna cum laude in 1996.[6][10]
While studying atHarvard University, Noujaim worked alongside her fellow peers towards developingBlue Hill Avenue, about the operations of gangs inRoxbury, Boston.[6] Also during the duration of her degree, Noujaim notably worked under mentorRobb Moss.[11]
In 2002, before her graduation, Noujaim was awarded theGardiner fellowship under which she directedMokattam, anArabic film about a garbage-collecting village near Cairo in Egypt.
Noujaim joined the MTV news and documentary division as a segment producer for the documentary seriesUNfiltered.
In 2001, she left to produce and directStartup.com under the guidance of documentary filmmakerD.A. Pennebaker in association with Pennebaker Hegedus Films. The feature-length documentary won theDGA andIDA Awards for best documentary.[citation needed] From collaboration withD.A. Pennebaker and Hegedus throughout her career, Noujaim's filmmaking techniques take insight fromcinéma verité.[12] Noujaim was awarded the Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award in 2004.[11]
She has since worked in both theMiddle East and theUnited States as a cinematographer on various documentaries includingBorn Rich,Only the Strong Survive, andDown from the Mountain.[13]
In 2004, she directed the feature-length filmControl Room, a documentary aboutUS Central Command and its relations withAl Jazeera and othernews organizations that covered the 2003invasion of Iraq. The film showed the unfolding of war through the descriptions and contributions of entities in media outlets.[14] It also displayed information on the impact of skewed information during theIraq war from different media source's operations and public motives.[15] Noujaim achieves this through live footage from her time inQatar of the war as well as interviews from news room correspondents.[16]
Through this project, Noujaim wanted to portray images of war and question how viewers perceive them.[16] The mentioned creative approach led her to focus her filmmaking on viewer's bias grounded in individual characteristics such as cultural background.[16] In a review forControl Room Bill Stamets felt that throughout this creative path, Noujaim who filmed the majority ofControl Room herself, never poses her own opinion on the topic in the film's story or give insight on her personal perception of war.[14] The neutral stream for the film gives little guidance to viewers, prioritizing their interpretation, an artistic choice on behalf of Noujaim.[14] Box office records were broken byControl Room while being screened at Film Forum inNew York.[12]
In 2006, Noujaim won theTED Prize for her work inControl Room.[17] This made her the first and youngest woman to do so.[citation needed] She also received a nomination for theWriters Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay, sharing the nomination with co-writerJulia Bacha.[18] In 2007, she co-directed (with Sherief El Katsha) the filmShayfeen.com which was broadcast as part of the WhyDemocracy project. In 2012 she releasedRafea: Solar Mama (which she directed with Mona Eldaeif). A documentary about a group of women leaving their villages to learn about solar engineering, only to return and solar power their own society.
In 2013, she releasedThe Square, a film following the Egyptian revolution and the inspiration it has given to the world.[19] While the film was being shot, Noujaim went missing, being found after an activist brought attention to her disappearance.[20] Also during the duration of filming, Noujaim was arrested on three occasions.[20] The arrests came as a result of accusations Noujaim was a spy, traitor, and for her general participation in protests while in Egypt.[21] During the film's release period, the piece was withheld from viewers in Egypt due to censorship regulations.[22] In an act to ensure Egyptian citizens saw the film, Noujaim released the film online in addition to the film being pirated in the country.[22] Noujaim claimed this decision was made in strides towards freedom of speech as a filmmaker.[22]
The Square was nominated for an Academy Award in best documentary in January 2014 and is highlighted as the first Egyptian film to earn such credentials.[23]The Square also won critical acclaim in the2013 Sundance Film Festival & the2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[19] She won theDGA Award forThe Square in 2014.[24]
Noujaim contributed to a book in 2016 which included a collection of statements by individuals on their experiences travelling to or visiting global squares.[17] In the text, Noujaim disclosed her experiences and time spent in January 2011 atTahrir Square.[17] The given location inCairo is commonly the site of chaos and protests which she expanded on.[17]
In 2019, Noujaim and Amer directedThe Great Hack, a documentary film which revolved around theFacebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. It had its world premiere at theSundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019.[25] It was released on July 24, 2019, byNetflix.[26] Initially, Noujaim and Amer meant out to make a documentary revolving around theSony Pictures hack, however the film evolved and shifted course as they started looking at how people's minds have been hacked and changed.[27][28][29]
Noujaim and Amer directedThe Vow a documentary series revolving aroundNXIVM and its leaderKeith Raniere, which premiered in August 2020 onHBO.[30][31][32] The second and final season premiered in October 2022, with Noujaim primarily directing without Amer.[33][34] Noujaim previously took a NXIVM course after being recruited bySara Bronfman.[35]
In 2022, Noujaim served as an executive producer onFlight/Risk directed by Amer andOmar Mullick forAmazon Studios.[36][37] In 2023, Noujaim served as an executive producer onDefiant directed by Amer, focusing on diplomacy anddisinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[38] Noujaim is directing and executive producing alongsideVikram Gandhi,The Man Will Burn, a documentary series revolving aroundBurning Man.[39]
After winning theTED Prize, Noujaim used her wish to organizePangea Day, a live videoconference that took place in New York City, Rio de Janeiro, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Kigali on May 10, 2008. The show was internationally broadcast over four hours through internet, television and mobile phones. It featured films, speakers, and music. The purpose of the event was to screen the work of filmmakers who created pieces around cultural reflection that posed conversation starters among the audience to unite people globally through film.[40]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Down from the Mountain | No | No | Cinematographer |
| 2001 | Startup.com | Yes | Executive | Also cinematographer, editor |
| 2002 | Only the Strong Survive | No | No | Cinematographer |
| 2004 | Control Room | Yes | Executive | Also cinematographer |
| 2006 | Encounter Point | No | Executive | |
| 2009 | Budrus | No | Executive | |
| 2012 | Rafea: Solar Mama | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | The Square | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer |
| 2017 | The Breadwinner | No | Executive | |
| 2019 | The Great Hack | Yes | No | |
| 2022 | Flight/Risk | No | Executive | |
| 2023 | Defiant | No | Executive |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Ramy | Yes | Co-Executive Producer | Episode: "Cairo Cowboy" |
| 2020 | The Vow | Yes | Executive | |
| TBA | The Man Will Burn | Yes | Executive |
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2001 | DGA Award for Best Documentary |
| 2001 | IDA Award for Best Documentary |
| 2004 | Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award |
| 2006 | TED Prize |
| 2014 | DGA Award |
