Rob Winder BBC News Online

The Bush administration has branded it "the mouthpiece of Osama Bin Laden."

Al-Jazeera producer Samir Kahder, in a scene from Control Room

The British Army described some of its broadcasts as "deplorable."

Its reporters have been banned at times from Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

Controversial Arabic TV news channel al-Jazeera seems to make the news as often as it reports it.

So, Control Room, a documentary about the channel's coverage of the Iraq war should be an ideal opportunity to learn more about its inner workings.

Arab-American documentary maker Jehane Nougaim had already won critical acclaim for her previous documentary on an internet company, Startup.com.

Passion

The film follows some of al-Jazeera's journalists, producers and translators throughout March and April 2003 as they report the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Control Room is at its best when revealing the passion of the channel's staff.

Their message - to promote debate and political reform throughout the Arab world - is clear.

Correspondent Tareq Ayoub was reportedly killed in a US missile strike.

As is their determination to report the war from an Iraqi point of view.

The death of Baghdad correspondent Tareq Ayoub after al-Jazeera's offices were hit by American missiles is a shocking moment.

The US later said the attack was a targeting mistake.

Many at al-Jazeera believe their offices were deliberately targeted.

Weaknesses

The film also raises interesting questions about objective reporting during wartime.

Is al-Jazeera any more or less one-sided than some American news networks?

Does its transmission of graphic footage of civilian casualties inflame already tense situations?

How close should journalists get to combatants on either side?

These questions and more are explored during briefing sessions with US Army Lieutenant Josh Rushling at the Coalition Media Centre in Qatar.

The film's weaknesses are apparent from the start.

Control Room takes too many of al-Jazeera's claims at face value.

Top-level editorial meetings do not appear in the film so we don't know how policy is formed.

We are also left in the dark on the station's relationship with its chief backer, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.

Arab criticism of al-Jazeera is also conspicuous by its absence.

Despite these omissions, those hoping to find out more about the Arab perspective on the war in Iraq will find Control Room a useful film.

This may explain its surprise success at the American box office.

Those hoping to find out more about al-Jazeera itself may be a little disappointed.