Customer Reviews

Operation Filmmaker

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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.

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.

"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.

this is the best documentary i saw this year. it has a lot to say about a lot of things: hollywood, celebrity, the iraq war, America, filmmaking, and human nature. and it is very well made, self-conscious, and funny.

The concept of the documentary was lacking from the beginning. As Nina Davenport films a 25 yr old Iraqi on the set of "Everything is Illuminated" she manipulates words, events, and actions in the process. It seems as if Davenport was brought on set to film merely as a way to record the goodwill of the film's production staff. This, unfortunately for Davenport, does not equate to an enthralling story worthy of 90 minutes of film. The boy is criticized by Davenport for repeatedly asking for help in an environment that is all too foreign to him. The documentary follows a young Iraqi man who gets the opportunity to serve as an assistant on the set of a Hollywood production. The title refers to Davenport's inability to create an "exit strategy" from the demands of the Iraqi student. Lets look at this from a logical standpoint....the Iraqi student is going to see the large Hollywood production and be mesmerized. There is no story there because a conclusion is infeasible. If it were a Hollywood film the boy would go back to Iraq and make films to enlighten the people and change the world. This of course did not happen and rather the boy struggles in a system he is unfamiliar with. He is chastised repeatedly by the director for asking for help from the only people he knows. To create a story he is portrayed as a lazy, disrespectful leech. Nina Davenport forcefully injects herself into the documentary in a pitiful attempt to create a storyline. She is as far from unbiased as humanly possible and fails miserably in her attempt to create a quality documentary.