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1th DMZ Docs(2009)

I AM DOCU



Inside the Red Mosque

Farah Durrani

  • Pakistan
  • 2007
  • 43min
  • HD, HDCAM
  • color

Synopsis

In the days leading up to the storming of the Red Mosque in July 2007, Al Jazeera¡¯s Rageh Omaar gained exclusive access to the site. He and his team were the last TV crew inside the mosque before the siege began and filmed the last interview with Abdul Rashid Ghazi, one of the mosque¡¯s leaders, before his death. The film also offers unique access to the Jamia Hafsa madrasa, the religious seminary for women attached to the Red Mosque. For the first time, cameras were allowed inside the girls¡¯ madrassa and the film has very open and candid interviews with both Ghazi and the head of the girls¡¯ madrassa, Umme Hassan, about their mission to introduce sharia in Pakistan. Even though Ghazi spoke about his will to fight till the end, in the final assault by special forces, Ghazi was killed, along with around a hundred of his students. The films captured events as they unfolded in front of the camera during the siege which lasted for 10 days. It reveals the devastation inside the madrassa following the bloody climax of the siege. The camera kept rolling as the army prepared to storm the mosque, as the students escaped from the madrassa, and as the desperate relatives seek news of their daughters caught in the crossfire.

Review

Director

  • Farah Durrani

    Farah Durrani spent 20 years in BBC Television as an award winning producer/director and executive producer in Current Affairs and factual programs. Her films have won RTS and Grierson awards for best documentary. She produced the landmark 4 - part series on the Roman Catholic Church, Absolute Truth, and was EMMY nominated for Inside Chechenya. As executive producer she worked across a range of programmes for BBC Two and BBC Four. Since joining Midwinter in 2007, Farah has made 5 films in Pakistan including The Red Mosque which was nominated at Emmy. 

Credit

  • ProducerCharles Bruce
  • Cinematography Bruno Sorrentino
  • Editor Peter Potts
  • Sound Bruno Sorrentino

Distributor / World Sales

Distributor/World Sales  Al Jazeera Network

Address  PO Box 23127, Doha, State of Qatar

Tel  974 489 7453

Fax  974 489 7472

Email  Carlotta.gelmetti@aljazeera.net​