He is known as a Hollywood star and sex symbol with a rogue smile. Upper Austria will now get to know George Clooney (63) in a different role: the reason for this is Friedrich Moser from Desselbrunn (Vöcklabruck district). The director is bringing his new documentary “How to Build a Truth Engine” to the cinema tomorrow. And Clooney? The Viennese (55) by choice was able to get the job as “executive producer”.
As such, the double Oscar winner and son of journalist legend Nick Clooney, the former “Armin Wolf of the Midwest”, supports the film neither with money nor with acting, but as a networker and ambassador for its cause: strengthening facts, verifying them and thus of civilizational cohesion.
Exposing war crimes
Moser started five years ago to use his work to highlight the key components that global society needs in order to build “an engine of truth”. “How to Build a Truth Engine” is ultimately “a plea for journalism,” says Moser. “Many people don’t even know what journalism essentially means.” It doesn’t mean writing or presenting anything, but rather questioning and researching, having a variety of sources to clearly substantiate facts.”
A rumor that false or deliberately manipulated information spreads quickly, especially online. “But who among everyday social media users has the opportunity to interview an expert?” Who has the number of a researcher or politician? Very few.” And most of them are journalists who function like “spam filters” for democracy – also against war propaganda. In order to understand this difficult work, Moser accompanied the Schwanenstadt journalist Christoph Koettl and his colleagues from the “New York Times” (NYT). Koettl's specialty for the US quality newspaper? The evaluation of satellite images. An example in the film: how the NYT uncovered the massacres of Ukrainians by Russians in Bucha in 2022. “Russia claimed there were no dead people on the streets, but rather actors.”
Moser’s film is also a “plea for technology”. “We were overwhelmed by it, but we should let it work for us.” A fascinating example in the film: software that finds and visualizes conspiracy theories on the Internet. They analyze how the actors in a story relate to each other. A real story grows naturally, actors are connected. If a conspiracy theory comes up, they have (almost) nothing to do with each other.
Even more remarkable than such “feats” of technology is Moser’s access to those where it all begins: us humans. Moser explains to us through experts how we actually process information. Ironically, a neurological ability that arguably underlies our survival leaves us vulnerable to false narratives. To put it very simply, we organize our environment – especially when we are emotionally aroused – into cognitive patterns. This reduces surprises and enables quick action. “Our brain also looks for shortcuts and becomes a gateway for fake news and conspiracy theories.” Patterns are based on false assumptions and are further cemented. Moser:
“We have to be aware: our minds can become a battlefield. Anyone who can distort information can also hack it.”
By the way, Clooney is currently helping Moser with negotiations with US distributors. May Trump’s second term in office and his “alternative facts” succeed.
- Cinema release: in Obermorgenösterreich (December 12th) at the Linzer Moviemento.
- Am Tuesday (December 17th, 7 p.m.) director Friedrich Moser will personally present the film there: www.moviemento.at. Further tours of cinemas in Upper Austria are being planned.
- How Friedrich Moser came to George Clooney: The director has already recruited Oliver Stone as executive producer for his documentary “A Good American” (2015). This led Moser to see the positive effects of such collaboration (advertising value, attention from streamers, among others). For “How to Build a Truth Engine,” Moser made contact with Clooney through a US partner. With a teaser (short film about the project, note) he convinces the star and his wife Amal, a human rights lawyer. According to Moser, Clooney looks just as good in Zoom meetings as he does on screen.
- Short review: “How to build a truth machine” is a documentary that sounds complicated and complex at first. Ultimately, it combines questions of power, geopolitics, disinformation, brain research and journalistic activities – in the analog and digital world. The trick that it achieves, however, is one thing: the film lets you glide through all of this effortlessly. Conversations with experts, visualizations and archive materials (e.g. storming of the Capitol, liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp) alternate with concise nature photographs that give you time to think. A famous film, right for our time, that unites the world
Allows other eyes to see. - OÖN rating:
Author
Nora Bruckmüller
Culture editor
Nora Bruckmüller
