To Sell A War is a documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

, first aired in December 1992 as part of CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 programme the fifth estate

The fifth estate

the fifth estate is a Canadian television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language CBC Television network. The name is a play on the fact that the media are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into...

. The programme was directed by Martyn Gregory and produced by Neil Docherty.

It exposes the Citizens for a Free Kuwait

Citizens for a Free Kuwait

Citizens for a Free Kuwait was an astroturf operation established by the Kuwaiti government to persuade the US public to look favourably on US military action in the Persian Gulf...

 campaign as public relations

Public relations

Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

 spin

Spin (public relations)

In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure...

 to gain public opinion support for the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

. As well, it reveals that Nurse Nayirah

Nurse Nayirah

Nayirah refers to the controversial testimony given before the non-governmental Congressional Human Rights Caucus on October 10, 1990, by a female who provided only her first name, Nayirah...

 was in fact Nijirah al-Sabah, the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the United States Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, coached by Hill & Knowlton

Hill & Knowlton

Hill & Knowlton is a global public relations company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with 79 offices in 44 countries. Hill & Knowlton was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1927 by John W. Hill and is today led by Chairman & CEO, Paul Taaffe...

 to forge her infamous testimony about Iraqi soldiers removing babies from incubators, which was widely reported and repeated throughout the media.

Awards

• 1993 – American Film and Video Festival - Blue Ribbon
• 1993 – Canadian Association of Journalists Awards for Investigative Reporting - CAJ Award - Network Television Category
• 1993 – The New York Festivals - Bronze Medal
• 1992 – Columbus International Film and Video Festival - Chris Award
• 1992 – Columbus International Film and Video Festival - Bronze Plaque
• 1992 – International Emmy Awards - International Emmy Award Documentary
• 1992 – Yorkton Short Film/Video Festival - Golden Sheaf Award - Best Documentary

External links

• To Sell A War at BFI
  British Film Institute
  The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...