a film by Yung Chang
2019 | 106 minutes | Canada, Germany | English & Arabic with English Subtitles

For more than 40 years, journalist Robert Fisk has reported on some of the most violent and divisive conflicts in the world.

Yung Chang’s This Is Not a Movie captures Fisk in action—feet on the ground, notebook in hand, as he travels into landscapes devastated by war, ferreting out the facts and firing reports back home to reach an audience of millions.

The process of translating raw experience into incisive and passionate dispatches requires the determination to see things first-hand and the tenacity to say what others won’t. In his relentless pursuit of the facts, Fisk has attracted his share of controversy. But in spite of the danger, he has continued to cover stories as they unfold, talking directly to the people involved.

In an era of fake news, when journalists are dubbed “the enemies of the people,” Fisk’s resolve to document reality has become an obsessive war to speak the truth.

"Fisk's story is a compelling reminder of just how real the news can be."
—POV Magazine

"[The film] provides a comprehensive portrait of a man who has become essential reading."
—Hollywood Reporter

"[A] laudatory, engaging profile of [Robert Fisk]..."
—Globe and Mail

"In This Is Not a Movie, Fisk's life history is paired with a director up to the task
of presenting the facts in a compelling, cogent manner."
—Hammer to Nail

"It is as fascinating to watch Fisk talk about the media landscape as it is
to read his inimitable writings on the Middle East."
—Cineuropa