Eli Khoury has been hired by the US government to spread democracy to the Arab world. Jehane Noujaim's (Control Room, Startup.com) film shows him in full work, campaigning and in meetings behind the scenes.

Meet Eli Khoury, the "mastermind" of Democracy in the Middle East. CEO of marketing giant Saatchi and Saatchi (Middle East) and founder of Quantum Communications, he has played a pivotal role in bolstering key pro-Democratic movements throughout the Middle East, namely in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.

His next target is Egypt, where the first multi-party Presidential elections in 24 years will be staged next September, and Iran where there are plans for foreign (mainly US) support of local groups in opposition to the regime.

A forty-two year old maverick and master of his craft, Eli has been hired by the US government to help in its efforts of spreading democracy to the Arab world. He has devised a ‘matrix’ to be used as a uniform road map to help establish democracy and pro-democratic regimes.

During shoots in Lebanon, excellent access has been granted. Eli has granted the filmmakers access to all key meetings, discussions, and events. As with any film involving multiple characters, obtaining the access to meetings with top officials in Egypt and Washington is a continual work in progress.

Eli is committed to helping the filmmakers in their efforts to gain access to all outside meetings related to the political campaigns. Full access to the creation and execution of the campaigns has been granted, and full access to internal meetings has been granted.

The director, Jehane Noujaim began as a photographer and filmmaker in Cairo, Egypt, where she grew up. She moved to Boston in 1990, where she attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude in Visual Arts and Philosophy in 1996. Earlier that year, Noujaim was awarded the Gardiner fellowship under which she directed Mokattam, an Arabic film about an Egyptian garbage collecting village.

She then joined the MTV News and Documentary division as a producer for the documentary series, Unfiltered. Noujaim left her producing job at MTV to produce and direct Startup.com in association with Pennebaker Hedgedus Films. The feature length, highly acclaimed documentary has won numerous distinguished awards including the DGA and IDA Awards for best documentary.

She has since worked in both the Middle East and the US as a director and cinematographer on various documentaries including Born Rich (Jamie Johnson), Only the Strong Survive (Miramax Films), and Down from the Mountain (Cohen Brothers).