Capturing a Quagmire: 'No End in Sight'

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IN HIS HARD-HITTING documentary "No End in Sight," director Charles Ferguson details the sequence of events leading to the war of Iraq. Through interviews with government officials, military personnel and academics, the first-time filmmaker explains the situation from the ground up so that anyone with a basic knowledge of current events can become more informed.

"No End in Sight" was shown on PBS in April, was featured at Silverdocs and began a D.C. theatrical run at the Landmark E Street Cinema last Friday.

» EXPRESS: After the movie, I felt exasperated and overwhelmed. Coupled with title, how do you want people to feel after the movie?
» FERGUSON: Sobered, I guess. First of all, I hope that they will come away with an understanding of just how bad the situation in Iraq is and how badly it was handled. I hope they will come away with an understanding that war is very serious business and if you undertake it casually or sloppily or arrogantly or all three of those things then very, very bad things will happen. This isn't the last time the United States will use military force, unfortunately, and I hope people will understand that next time they should examine their leaders and force their leaders to examine the world more closely than they did this time.

» EXPRESS: How did you get such high-level access to so many people?
» FERGUSON: Well, I'm a persistent individual [laughs]. There's a part of me that loves finding out things that people don't want you to know. I just feel like I like doing research and I've done a lot of policy-related research because I got a Ph.D. in political science and I was in political science for a number of years. I also, because of that background, was somewhat better connected in the policy world than other people probably are.

» EXPRESS: This being your first film, how long did it take you to make it and how steep was the learning curve?
» FERGUSON: The whole process was about 18 months. By comparison with many first-time filmmakers, I think I had an easier time for two reasons. The first is that I had already started and run businesses before. I could create and run that organization. And the other is that I am very lucky in that I happened to have several friends who are well-connected in the film industry. I was able to get good people to work on the film and, in a sense, they taught me my job. The research was the hard part. When I started making the film nobody was talking yet — I won't say nobody — but very few people were talking. And of course one advantage of writing a book as opposed to making a film is that you can rely on anonymous or unnamed sources. You can't do that, really, in a film, so finding people willing to talk when I started was very difficult. But it got easier and easier.

» EXPRESS: As far as your experience in Iraq goes, I noticed that the security company was listed in the credits, right before music people.
» FERGUSON: Yes, that was deliberate and, yes, I insisted on it. And they deserved to be there. Have you been to Iraq?

» EXPRESS: No, I haven't.
» FERGUSON: Well let me tell you security is important. White guys don't walk around on the Baghdad streets. That's not a good way to stay alive. Having good security people — not just security people, good security people — is essential. When we would find someone to interview on the streets of Baghdad the rules were never stay anywhere more than half and hour, never go back to the same place twice, and if you see someone start to use a cell phone you leave right now. When we would find someone to interview, my security detail, which was 10 army men, would form a wall around us watching outward while I interviewed somebody. So, yes, they deserve the credit.

» EXPRESS: What kind of reactions have you received from the public and the government?
» FERGUSON: Nobody who is currently in the government has spoken with me about the film. I don't know if they've seen it. A number of people in the government have been invited to private screenings. I honestly don't know if anyone from the [Bush] adminstration has come. I know that a number of members of Congress, both representatives and senators, have seen the films and a number of senior congressional staff have seen the films, and those who have responded have responded favorably.

» Landmark E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW; through August 2, $9.50; 202-452-7672. (Metro Center)

Written by Express contributor Dan Miller

Ferguson photo by Helayne Seidman/FTWP; other images courtesy Representational Pictures