George Clooney touches on Syriana, Darfur and the war on Iraq

George Clooney, star of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) Opening Night film Michael Clayton, spoke about Dubai, the American war on Iraq, and the issue of Darfur at an opening press conference today.

Clooney spoke highly of Dubai, saying: “It is really wonderful to be back here. We shot a film that was really dear to my heart in Dubai—Syriana—and it took a lot of guts to allow that. I’m glad to be back in a city and country that welcomed us.”

He added that he was interested in participating in DIFF because: “This is an up and coming and very interesting festival that allows us to cross cultures. We have to get to the point where we understand each other a little more, and film and music have always been a great way of doing that.”

Clooney’s work often deals with political themes; Michael Clayton, although billed as a thriller, is based on a true story of corporate malpractice. He stated that he tries to address issues in his work that are avoided in the popular media, even at the expense of commercial success, citing the example of his 1998 film Three Kings. “A decade ago, Three Kings talked about things that no one in America was talking about then. The film said, ‘these people are human beings, and there’s a cause and effect to how they are treated.’ It got mixed reviews in America and we were called traitors.”

Clooney noted that he had also been called a traitor for speaking out against the war against Iraq, which Clooney pointed out is steadily losing popularity around the United States: “We’re like a big aircraft carrier that has to turn around. It takes us a while. We’re in the process of trying to right the wrongs we’ve made internationally, [and] the wrongs we’ve done to our own country.”

He noted that his motivation in making his 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck was to highlight the importance of the press in American political life. “The press is important in the States. We call it the fourth estate, and if the legislative and executive branches aren’t doing their job, the press have the right to ask questions. The press weren’t asking the right kinds of questions before the war. Now if you turn on the television, you hear, ‘we weren’t doing our job in 2002 and 2003.’ Had they asked the right questions, perhaps the result would have been different.”

Clooney spoke at length about his political activism, particularly on the issue of the current conflict in Darfur, which is a major focus of his attention. He stated: “I certainly am not a policy maker, my job is simply to shine the light on the problem and allow brighter minds to fix it…The issue that we felt years ago wasn’t getting any traction was Darfur, so that’s become the passion and the project of mine. It’s more than human rights, it’s life and death issues that are going on right now.”

Michael Clayton will screen this evening as part of the Dubai International Film Festival’s Opening Night festivities. Clooney will also appear live in “A Conversation with George Clooney,” a public event mediated by film critic and DIFF programmer Sheila Whitaker.