Product Details

• Actors: Alberto Bonilla, Steven Chinni, Liev Schreiber
• Directors: Nina Davenport
• Format: Color, Widescreen
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0018C4WR6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,670 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Soon after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, a young and charismatic film student, Muthana Mohmed, stands in the rubble of the city's film school and explains to an American television audience that his dream of becoming a filmmaker has been destroyed - first by Saddam Hussein, then by American bombs. This brief, fortuitous appearance on MTV changes Muthana's life forever. Watching in the United States, actor/director Liev Schreiber stops channel surfing, utterly captivated. Feeling guilty about a war he opposed, Schreiber decides to extend to the unknown Iraqi the opportunity of a lifetime - to come to Prague to work on an American movie, Everything is Illuminated. On set, frustrated expectations complicate the relationship between Muthana and his American benefactors in what becomes a cross-cultural endeavor gone awry. Filmmaker Nina Davenport becomes increasingly entangled in the young Iraqi's life as his visa is about to expire and the threat of returning to Baghdad looms. Operation Filmmaker, revealing on several levels, addresses the power dynamics between the American filmmaker and her Iraqi subject, unfolding as an engaging parable about the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Intentions Gone Awry Leave Us to Draw Our Own Conclusions., February 12, 2009

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Operation Filmmaker (DVD)

A couple years after the United States' invasion of Iraq, American actor Liev Schreiber saw a young Iraqi film student named Muthana Mohmed featured on MTV. With a mind to give Mohmed a professional opportunity and a respite from the war, Schreiber and his producer Peter Saref invited Mohmed to work on Schreiber's directorial debut, "Everything Is Illuminated", which was filming in the Czech Republic. Nina Davenport, who directs this documentary, was hired by MTV to document Mohmed's experiences on the set. "Operation Filmmaker" is the peculiar result. Davenport ends up following Mohmed for 9 months, far beyond his initial contract. We watch their relationship deteriorate, Mohmed struggle to stay in the West, and wonder who is fooling whom.

Mohmed is trying to fool a lot of people and that a lot of well-meaning, guilt-ridden Americans are trying hard to fool themselves. It's a little uncomfortable to watch, but, at the same time, the story propels itself forward by always leaving us wondering when and if people are going to wizen up and when Mohmed will finally return to Iraq. At first Mohmed struck me as good at self-promotion and given to hyperbole, but he's trying to make opportunities for himself, so who can blame him? Ten minutes into this film, it's obvious that he's a lazy, pathological liar. What makes this interesting is how far people are willing to indulge his manipulations because his country was the victim of American aggression and because they don't want to be culturally insensitive. On the other hand, Mohmed may really want to return to Iraq but fear that his family and friends will see him as a failure if he does.

Muthana Mohmed shouldn't be taken as typical of Iraqis, but his story could embody a number of themes: 1. Every culture has its jerks, and they are remarkably alike. 2. Just because you have high ideals doesn't mean that those you're trying to help share them. 3. People exploit the intentions of those more fortunate than themselves to advance their own agendas. I'm reminded of the endless con games run on the CIA by little groups of would-be revolutionaries who want money and the Muslim populations living under colonial rule who believed that Christians had been sent by God for them to exploit. It doesn't mean that these people aren't in an unfortunate situation, but thinking of them simply as victims is misleading. In the end, Mohmed proclaims, "I will make it...because I'm real." Well, I'm sure every member of the audience will have an opinion about that.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good fortune strikes undeserving Muthana, August 3, 2009

By 

Reader "cvrcak1" (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Filmmaker (DVD)

Muthana is a young man from Iraq. One day, while walking the streets of Baghdad, MTV camera catches him expressing desire to learn how to become a filmmaker so he can capture evertything that is going on in his city and his country. Touched by Muthana's plea, actor Liev Schriber who was in a process of filming a movie in Prague about cross cultural divide between young men from two different worlds, invites Muthana to become an intern on the set in order to learn the art of filmmaking.

It is at this point that director Nina Davenport decides to make a documentary about Muthana's experiences. She follows Muthana from Iraq to Czech Republic and films his interactions with Muthana's sponsors, film crew, actors and everyone else on the set. From the start, things are off. It seems that Muthana's homesickness is shadowing his learning process. He quickly learns that he is in his own and will have to put more effort in order to impress people around him. Soon it becomes obvious that Muthana is not self-motivated and that his only desire is to find a way to extend his stay in Europe and eventually move to the United States.

It is interesting how people quickly read Muthana's agenda. But it is really Nina who gets sucked into young man's manipulations where he wants her to give him money, help him with his numerous visa extensions in Prague and visa applications for London School of Film. Nina seems what is going on but for the sake of her documentary where Muthana is the main protagonist she gives into his unreasonable demands and openly hostile and abusive behavior.

What was stiking to me in this documentary is the number of people who had only the best intentions for this young man. There is not a moment where he thanks any of them for the opportunities given to him. He has sense of entitlement that others help him and is unwilling to find a job or any means of supporting himself on this deeply personal journey. I was so put off by this young man, that if I were INS agent, I would have had him deported right away. The last things the world needs is another scam artist living off others' good intentions.

Nina Davenport delivers a powerful documentary presented with the objective lens of a seasoned filmmaker. Her determination to create a final product is impressive. I wish her all the sucess in her future endeavors. Just from observing her, Muthana could have learned a lot. But I really believe that it never crossed his pea size brain to contemplate such possibility. He is just too self-indulging, scheaming and spoilt to realize that.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything is ironic, February 1, 2009

By 

Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operation Filmmaker (DVD)

"Operation Filmmaker" is Harvard alum Nina Davenport's fascinating journey behind the scenes of movies with Iraqi intern Muthana Mohmed. The documentary was originally intended to be a self-congratulatory piece for first-time director Liev Schreiber ("Everything is illuminated") tutoring Mohmed,whom he'd seen on an MTV reality show,on the art of filmmaking. What follows is the law of unintended consequences. The documentary is an interesting commentary on reality TV. Mohmed finds the everyday tasks onset mundane. He's bored making vegan snacks for the producer Peter Saraf ("Little Miss Sunshine"),as well as doing the gag reel (which ends up being someone else's job) Schreiber and Saraf have an ironic mixture of generosity and exploitation when it comes to Mohmed.

Mohmed manages to get a visa because of the dangers in Iraq. He makes his way onto the set of "DOOM",where he has more fun because he gets to interact with the actors. The Rock gives Mohmed a fat check to go to a London film school. People see promise in him. The ending has some ironic twists--after this movie was done, Mohmed finally got a 5-year work visa to be in the UK. "Operation Filmmaker",unlike "Everything is illuminated",got considerable critical acclaim (the latter helped sink Warner Independent)

"Operation Filmmaker" manages to be poignant,exciting,tragic,and sometimes downright funny. There are sad ironies. Mohmed escapes the bloodshed of Iraq but is surrounded by fake corpses in both movies. Producers and directors come across as having ulterior motives,while actors come across as generous--and incredibly naive. Elijah Wood praises Mohmed for his gag reel (though he had other people do the work);the Rock believes Mohmed's sob story about being trapped in the rubble of a bombed building. Mohmed praises Pres. Bush for saving his country--to the obvious shock of Peter Saraf. "Operation Filmmaker" could be interpreted as pro-Iraq War;it's not the usual polemic.

"Operation Filmmaker" also has funny details. Mohmed's crush on Angelina Jolie. Mohmed learning about tofu&vegan diets. Tolkien aficionados can glimpse Karl Urban (Eomer) on the set of "DOOM",and of course,Frodo himself. Elijah Wood is at his happiest&most relaxed when he's NOT acting. This movie was not mobbed by fangirls,an irony in itself.

"Operation Filmmaker" is like a bento box. It's got something for everybody.