WAR OF LIES (Matthias Bittner, Germany). 89 minutes. Rating: NNN
Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi defected from Iraq to Germany in 1999. After 9/11, his tales of Saddam Hussein’s mobile biological labs and weapons of mass destruction were passed to the U.S., making him the principal source of the information that led America to invade Iraq. But were the stories told by “Curveball” (al-Janabi’s code name) true or the work of a man willing to say anything to secure asylum?
Over the course of a very long interview, director Matthias Bittner tries to get al-Janabi to admit that he made everything up – and al-Janabi repeatedly comes right to the edge of doing so, always falling back on the idea that any story that resulted in Saddam’s removal from power was justified. It’s frustrating, compelling footage that Bittner breaks up with showy, utterly unnecessary point-of-view recreations of al-Janabi’s life in Germany. NORMAN WILNER
Apr 27, 9:15 pm, TIFF 1 Apr 29, 1 pm, TIFF 1 May 3, 9:30 pm, Bloor Hot Docs