2006 TED Prize winner Jehane Noujaim is the gutsy filmmaker responsible for Control Room, an astonishing documentary about Al Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war and the contrasting notions of truth expressed in the US media. Being raised between Egypt and the US, the exploration of culture is one of Jehane's driving forces. Her reason for making the film: "It's important for everyone, simply as individuals, to try to understand different people and different cultures, but it's especially important for people in the United States because we affect so much of the world beyond our borders." Noujaim's earlier film Startup.com was another case when she entered the story at the perfect point in time: The film follows an arc that mirrors the curve of the dotcom bubble itself, capturing a small Internet company from its eager beginnings through the manic, moneyed times right down to the bitter end. Before culture even begins to shift, Jehane is there with her camera, trusting that the story to unfold is one that will change us. She's at work on her 2006 TED Prize wish for a world-uniting international celebration of film, Pangea Day."Through the deceptively simple practice of watching, listening and editing, Jehane Noujaim captures the complexity of reporting, and has a great deal to say about truth, democracy and the ambiguous status of the free press in the modern world." - New York Times