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Mick Jackson (Director)
Robert Wiener (Former CNN Senior Producer)
Ingrid Formanek (CNN Senior Producer)
Bernard Shaw (Former CNN Principal Anchor)
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(Journalist Ingrid Formanek was Robert Wiener's producing partner, and part of the historic team of CNN journalists who covered the 1991 Gulf War in Baghdad. She spoke with HBO from the set of Live From Baghdad.)
HBO
If you could, talk a little about that moment of decision for you, your memories of it and your emotions.
INGRID FORMANEK
The moment that I remember from that night - because we had all been working up to this for months leading up to the war - was what's going to happen? Are they going to take us hostage once we had the four-wire installed? (A "four-wire" is a device which allowed the CNN crew to talk from their hotel room in Baghdad directly, and uncensored, to CNN headquarters in Atlanta). We knew that we had an edge.
HBO
Yeah.
INGRID FORMANEK
But when it actually came down to the wire, we were all debating whether we were going to stay or not. My big moment was when Walter Cronkite got on the four-wire with Peter Arnett, because they knew each other for years from Vietnam, and the pressure was on from everywhere for us to get out.
And Walter Cronkite was having a conversation with Arnett on the four-wire, and we all thought much more terrible things were going to happen in Baghdad than actually did.
HBO
Right.
INGRID FORMANEK
Nobody really knew what was going to happen. And when Walter Cronkite said to Arnett, don't grandstand this one, Peter, get out of there, my stomach went into a knot, and I thought, oh my god. Because this is the most respected man in American journalism saying, get out. And I figure if Walter is saying this, I should get the hell out. And he completely clouded my brain for the rest of the night.
HBO
Wow. What did you decide?
INGRID FORMANEK
I decided to go, and as soon as the first bomb fell, I said, no, I'm going to stay. Because I realized that the reality is much easier to live with than something you imagine. I think wars and terrible events are always much more terrible from the outside. But when you're inside, you deal with it. You have a mechanism that allows you to deal with it, and it's not actually as terrible as what you had imagined.
HBO
Interesting. After the first bomb you're like, oh, I can do this?
INGRID FORMANEK
Exactly.
HBO
Did you think you might die?
INGRID FORMANEK
No. No. No, no, no.
HBO
You weren't going to die?
INGRID FORMANEK
No.
HBO
Did you have a sense at the time that you were a part of history? How important these broadcasts were? Or were you just doing your job?
INGRID FORMANEK
I don't think any of us had any idea that this would be journalistic history. I think we were doing our job, we felt great about having an edge on everybody else. I, actually, for a while, thought this four-wire was a big pain in the neck. I thought it was sort of a Big Brother sort of thing.
HBO
Yeah.
INGRID FORMANEK
Not that it was devised as such, but you know. I never realized how much of an edge we would have. And even that night I didn't quite realize what was happening. Because, again, we're cocooned, we're seeing the war happen, and you don't know how the rest of the world is dealing with this.
HBO
Yeah.
INGRID FORMANEK
I had no idea that every local channel in America was switching over to CNN. It's when we actually got out of Baghdad that we realized, my god, this is a big deal.
HBO
And how do you feel about it today?
INGRID FORMANEK
I feel great about it. I think, to this day, it was one of CNN's greatest moments, if not CNN's greatest moment. Because it was a plateau, and got CNN recognition, it proved that we could do things with a little bit of imagination, and it proved that we were also good journalists.
HBO
Talk about Robert: what is he all about? He doesn't seem like a normal guy to me. He seems a little bit out there.
INGRID FORMANEK
You're in Hollywood, what do you know about normal? [LAUGHS]
HBO
Well, he fits right in in Hollywood.
INGRID FORMANEK
Robert is a very creative character. He's a very intelligent man. He's got lots of chutzpah.
HBO
Yeah.
INGRID FORMANEK
Robert in those days- now I look at him as an equal, in those days he was very much my senior, and I credit with learning a lot of stuff from Robert. I think he is very good to work with. He is an unusual character. I think when you work with unusual characters that make you think in unusual ways, I think it benefits everybody. And he has always been a lot of fun, but he's also an honest man when it comes to journalism. He is a good combination of being a professional and knowing how to enjoy what he does.
HBO
Are you looking forward to seeing yourself in the film, and to seeing your relationship with Robert?
INGRID FORMANEK
It will be amusing to see how other people interpret what we do. Also you guys, Hollywood, does things for effect, and for drama, and maybe tries to make things bigger when they weren't quite as big. I mean, you need tension and drama and plots and all that stuff. So. Yes, it will be interesting. It will definitely be interesting.
HBO
You were chatting today with Helena (Bonham Carter)-
INGRID FORMANEK
She's a hoot.
HBO
How do you feel about her portraying you?
INGRID FORMANEK
Fabulous. No, I mean, I'm pleased. Number one, she's good looking (LAUGHS), she is smart, I'm pleased. I think it will be a pleasure to watch Helena playing me. It's flattering.
HBO
Tell us again about the actual events: when the bombs started going. Was it terrifying?
INGRID FORMANEK
The first thing we heard is the howling of the dogs. Apparently, dogs, and I've heard this from people since, dogs apparently can hear frequencies that humans can't.
HBO
Yes.
INGRID FORMANEK
And they heard the jets, the bombs, missiles, whatever, coming before humans did. And I remember the howling of the dogs. And that's when I knew it started. That was a very eerie sound.
HBO
Then what happened?
INGRID FORMANEK
Then we got lost in the frenzy of the bombing. You know, we cared about doing our job and what was happening and actually staying on the air. So, that was pretty much all that occupied my mind.
HBO
Stick with your task?
INGRID FORMANEK
Yes. Stick with the task, you know.
HBO
Can you describe what the bombing was like?
INGRID FORMANEK
It was very impressive. I mean there were amazing colors in the sky, and amazing flashes and, I'd never seen anything on this scale, so in that sense it was very impressive. You know, I remember the first morning after the bombing seeing something coming at the hotel, and I'd never seen anything like it. I think it was a stealth bomber. But seeing this thing was actually quite an amazing thing.
Because the Al-Rasheed Hotel where we were staying was apparently known to the American pilots as a turning point when they got to Baghdad. So they all knew where the Al-Rasheed was.
HBO
Any last thoughts about the film?
INGRID FORMANEK
There is only one thing I care about in this movie.
HBO
What is it?
INGRID FORMANEK
That they represent the ethics of journalism correctly, and that it really matters to tell the truth, and that it's very, very important to have people know about what is happening in places even if they seem alien, even if they're maybe perceived as an enemy by many people. I think it's very, very important to tell the truth and to remember that there are humans everywhere, and we need to tell these people's stories. And it's a very different political climate now. But if the ethics of what we do and the importance of the truth comes through in this film, that's what matters.
HBO
Thank you so much.
INGRID FORMANEK
Thank you.
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