American director Rob Reiner, who was found dead in his LA home on Sunday, was best known for defining moments in pop culture cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. However, his filmography also reflects a growing political consciousness – one that culminated in Shock and Awe, his exploration of the US invasion of Iraq.
In the 2017 drama, which screened at Dubai International Film Festival, Reiner told the true story of a team of US media company Knight Ridder reporters who, in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, found evidence of falsified intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. However, their findings were largely ignored by major media outlets in a country swept by nationalist sentiment post 9/11.
“I wanted to make this movie right after the invasion of Iraq,” Reiner told The National in August 2018. “But I don't think I could have done that. You had to be so careful around that time, as the national mood was a strange one.
“It is a very tough reckoning to realise that America was wrong. But this film is all about the importance of the truth and getting the truth out.”
The drama starred Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, James Marsden, Milla Jovovich and Jessica Biel, alongside Reiner, who played an editor.
James Marsden, left, and Woody Harrelson in Shock and Awe. Photo: Front Row Filmed Entertainment
Known for his political activism, Reiner was a supporter of the Democratic Party and a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump.
In the week of Shock and Awe's release in 2017, Reiner joined several Arab filmmakers to criticise Trump who, during his first term, unilaterally recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a move that was criticised by Palestinian officials and other Arab nations.
Reiner, who was Jewish, signed a petition led by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir slamming the decision.
“We stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, and an open Sacred City that
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