“Manhunt” is an official selection for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It’s a documentary by Greg Barker about the CIA’s search and capture of Osama bin Laden. Nada Bakos, who is featured in the film, served as an analyst for the CIA. She was on the team charged with analyzing the relationship between Iraq, Al Qaeda, and September 11. Bakos was privy to the inside track on what happens behind doors in the Central Intelligence Agency. Bakos was apprehensive at first about working with Barker but he won her over and she agreed to do her part in the documentary.
It is impossible not to make comparisons between “Manhunt” and last year’s movie, “Zero Dark Thirty.” The Oscar nominated Best Picture raised a lot of questions, especially about torture used during CIA interrogations. Searching for the truth, Examiner Dorri Olds interviewed Nada Bakos this week. It is clear that Bakos thinks before she speaks. She’s careful with her words and uses very few but she comes across as very likable and engaging.
Nada Bakos: The big thing that stood out is that this is a huge team effort and I understand that they needed a story for the plot but it doesn’t show how many other things were going on at the same time and how many people are involved. You know, that old saying that it takes a village.
Did you identify with Jessica Chastain’s character in the movie?
First of all, when I began doing this work it wasn’t my first job out of college. I already understood how bureaucracy works and how corporations work. The difference of course was we were dealing with life or death issues.
Were you in on everything happening within the agency?
I wasn’t always privy to what was going on at deeper levels of the organization.
Is it a good ol’ boy atmosphere?
Do you mean was it sexist?
Yes.
It’s not unlike sexism in any microcosm of American culture. Everywhere there is sexism.
How did you feel about Maya in Kathryn Bigelow’s film?
I can’t stress enough that it is a team effort. It’s much more complicated than one hero catching the bad guys. It is multi faceted and not focused on one individual and no one in the CIA has a crystal ball.
What do you hope is the take away from ‘Manhunt’?
I hope the viewers have a better understanding of how national security works and I’d like women to become interested in this type of work and to know that it is possible for them to have these types of careers.
Are you able to have any social life in a job like that?
It depends on the topic you’re working on. If you’re working during a crisis issue like Iraq, it’s 24/7.
On Law & Order SVU, Detective Olivia Benson gives her life to the job and forfeits having a social life. Is that how you experienced work?
It will always vary depending on what account you’re working on. In a crisis you don’t have any. If you’re working with a country when things are not in a crisis mode, then you can leave at 6:00 p.m. instead of 10:00 p.m. I will say that I did not have kids while I worked there but I saw other women who did and it takes a lot of effort but can be worked out. It can be done.
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