This is Not a Movie

“Report what you see with your own eyes. Only then will you get close to the truth” – these are the words Robert Fisk lives by. As a foreign correspondent to several British news publishers – most recently The Independent – Fisk has witnessed at close hand many of the violent episodes that have become defining for today’s Middle East. He covered the massacres in Sabra and Shatila, interviewed a young Osama Bin Laden, and was present during numerous bombings throughout the region. He began his career as a young and fearless reporter in Northern Ireland in the eighties, but quickly moved on to covering the Middle East and Lebanon – the country which has been his home for almost four decades.

Yung Chang’s documentary follows Fisk as he reports from the region – with Syria, Palestine and Lebanon featuring as the main areas. He returns to places he has covered previously and meets with people he has interviewed before. The film presents Fisk’s work, both past and present, and asks what foreign reporting can, and should, be. In addition to presenting Fisk’s vast knowledge of the region, This is not a Movie also deals with a range of topics: journalistic practices, ethics, the criticism against Fisk’s perspective on the Middle East, and how today’s world of digital media has changed the conditions of journalism and freedom of speech. Highly relevant and fascinating, this is an important movie.

NB: The panel discussion is cancelled

The panel supposed to follow the screening in Vika 1 on Wednesday, August 26, is unfortunately cancelled. The Oslo branch of the Norwegian Union of Journalists (Norsk Journalistlag) has decided to cancel all live events in 2020, to prevent infection among journalists and editorial staff. We are sorry about this!

Before the screening, there will be a short introduction by Khaled Zaza, lawyer and co-host of OSLO: Solidarity with Libanon.

The screening is a part of the programme section Pix Politics and is supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation.

Director’s bio:

Yung Chang (b. 1977) is born and raised in Canada. He has previously directed films like Up the Yangtze (2007), China Heavyweight (2012) and The Fruit Hunters (2012). This Is Not a Movie (2019) is his latest documentary and premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. It has later been screened at IDFA in Amsterdam.