Gaza filmmakers slam BBC after shelved documentary wins Bafta

The makers of the documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which was dropped by the BBC, have won the Bafta TV Awards in the current affairs category.

The makers of the film slammed the BBC during their acceptance speeches at the awards on Sunday, renewing controversy over the broadcaster’s decision to shelve the project before it was later aired by Channel 4.

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The documentary, which features firsthand accounts from Palestinian health workers in Gaza, was honoured at London’s Royal Festival Hall nearly a year after the BBC declined to broadcast it, citing concerns over partiality.

Accepting the award, executive producer Ben de Pear thanked the journalists behind the film before directly addressing the BBC, which aired the Bafta ceremony on BBC One with a delay of more than two hours: “Finally, just a question for the BBC: Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the Bafta screening later tonight?”

Journalist and presenter Ramita Navai also criticised the broadcaster during her speech, citing findings from the documentary’s investigation into attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system.

“These are the findings of our investigation that the BBC paid for but refused to show,” Navai said. “But we refuse to be silenced and censored. We thank Channel 4 for showing this film.”

Navai said more than 1,700 Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers have been killed and more than 400 have been detained during Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza. She dedicated the award to Palestinian medical workers being held in Israeli prisons.

According to British media reports, the BBC edited portions of Navai’s remarks from its televised broadcast after consultations with its compliance team.

The BBC originally commissioned the documentary from the independent production company Basement Films more than a year ago but delayed its release while conducting a review into another Gaza-related documentary, Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone.

The broadcaster later decided not to air Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, saying the film risked creating “a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC”.

The corporation also said impartiality remained “a core principle of BBC News”.

The film was subsequently acquired and broadcast by Channel 4 in July.

Speaking backstage after the Bafta win, de Pear praised Gazan journalists Jaber Badwan and Osana Al Ashi, who contributed footage to the documentary, saying the team “woke up every day wondering if the two journalists on the ground were still alive”.

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