Exclusive: Contributors to Gaza: Medics Under Fire may withdraw consent due to BBC’s delays to broadcast it
Doctors and whistleblowers who featured in a much-delayed Gaza documentary that the BBC was accused of censoring by Susan Sarandon, Gary Lineker and other cultural figures, are threatening to withdraw their consent due to the continued refusal to broadcast the film.
This month it emerged that the BBC had shelved broadcasting Gaza: Medics Under Fire, which was ready to air in February, until it finishes investigating a separate, unrelated film called Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged its young narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
An open letter about the delay was sent to the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, by more than 600 signatories – including Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake and Juliet Stevenson – claiming: “This is not editorial caution. It’s political suppression.
“No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors’ bravery honoured.”
With some BBC staff now concerned at how politically sensitive the issue has become, the Guardian has learned that some of the contributors to Gaza: Medics Under Fire – some of whom likely took risks to talk to Basement Films, the company that made the programme – are now considering withdrawing the consent they gave for their appearances to be used....
Director Manish Gupta denies stabbing his driver, claims FIR is fake and part of an extortion plot. Cites CCTV footage and payment records in his defense. Filmmaker and screenwriter Manish Gupta, k...