Jehane Noujaim, who directed the film, has her roots in both the Egyptian and the American cultural environments. She became interested in how the news contributes to different cultural perspectives of the world. In her film, not only does the film maker focus on the gap between those with different cultural perspectives, but she also explores the power of the the news and of film to foster communication which can overcome these cultural barriers.

In an interview, Noujaim describes her personal experience which led her to the idea for her film. She explains: The idea for the film came from a few different sources. Growing up and going back and forth between Egypt and the United States provided the initial entry point. Seeing the complete difference in perspectives on the same world events between the two cultures made me start thinking about news, the creation of the news, who’s responsible, and then on to questions of how these two peoples are supposed to communicate if the world as provided by their news are different.
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