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Axed BBC Gaza documentary to be shown at London cinema
The Garden Cinema will screen the film withdrawn by the BBC on Tuesday
March 24, 2025 15:04
The Garden Cinema will screen the film withdrawn by the BBC on Tuesday
March 24, 2025 15:04A Gaza documentary pulled from the BBC after it was found to be narrated by the son of a Hamas official will be shown at a London cinema on Tuesday.
Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone follows the lives of four youngsters in the Gaza Strip, and was broadcast last month on BBC Two. It focuses on 13-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri whose father was revealed to be the deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run Gaza government. The BBC has removed the documentary from iPlayer pending “further due diligence”.
The Garden Cinema in Covent Garden says it is screening the hour-long documentary, which is directed by award-winning filmmaker Jamie Roberts and Palestinian filmmaker Yousef Hammash, and made by production company Hoyo Films, “in response to members’ requests”.
The showing, on Tuesday at 7pm, will be free for members and has already sold out.
In a statement to the Jewish Chronicle, the BBC said it has no involvement in the screening at The Garden Cinema, nor any control over its distribution beyond the rights to television broadcast in the UK.
“The BBC does not own the copyright to this documentary,” said a BBC spokesperson. “Enforcement of copyright is conducted by the copyright holder, in this case this is the production company.
“The BBC’s position remains that we have removed the film from iPlayer and will not show it while we investigate a number of editorial matters related to the production of the documentary.”
Garden Cinema owner Michael Chambers described the film as “honest, revealing, important and timely” in an email to members. “I’ve decided – for two reasons – to show this film free of charge to Garden Cinema members,” he wrote.
“First, it’s a ‘must see’. Made by award-winning filmmaker Jamie Roberts – well-known for his documentaries – it brings to life the tragedy facing civilians in Gaza, and does so in a calm, restrained observation of their daily life ... “Second, the film should be seen by those interested in censorship and in the BBC.”
Chambers last year wrote, directed and produced the short film Solly & Salim, about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Hoyo Films could not be reached by phone. The Garden Cinema did not reply to questions about how it came to procure the film and whether it obtained the rights from the production company to screen it.
The Chairman of the BBC board, Dr Samir Shah OBE, has admitted “serious failings” in the corporation that led to the airing of the controversial film. The BBC has apologised over “serious flaws” in the making of the film, and Director General Tim Davie told MPs he decided to pull it because he “lost trust” in it.
In February, Davie told the Culture, Media and Sport select committee: “There were specific concerns – specific questions – about the father of the boy. And as we dug into it, we found out we were not told.
“At that point, quite quickly, I lost trust in that film and therefore I took decision to take it off iPlayer while we do this deep dive.”
Separately, the BBC was forced to apologise last week after a World Service producer asked the Israeli embassy to provide an anti-Netanyahu speaker for the Newshour programme.
The Board of Deputies has given the public broadcaster a deadline of Passover to tackle concerns over its reporting on the Israel-Hamas war and the wellbeing of its Jewish staff.