THE RORY PECK AWARDS 2007
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Maziar Bahari - Iranian / Canadian

Finalist: The Rory Peck Award for Hard News

This piece tells the story of the emergence of a de facto self-ruled Shia territory in Southern Iraq, showing the move from the point of view of ordinary people as well as political and military leaders. While Sunni extremists bomb Shia holy shrines, Shia death squads target Sunnis. Maziar Bahari talked to members of the death squads, who admit to kidnapping and beating Sunnis, before shooting them dead.

The judges felt this was an important story and appreciated the detail and real colour of his camerawork.

“This extraordinary story is told here at great personal risk. The access is amazing and he demonstrates enormous resourcefulness.”

Cameraman's Comment

“To work in relatively safety I assemble a team of seven people. We move in three cars to spot trouble ahead and watch our backs. Each day’s routine must be different. Only then I can start work as a journalist. It is not often that your main preoccupation is to avoid being beheaded. But in Iraq you have to overcome this fear to report the truth.”

Maziar Bahari is an award winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. He was born in Tehran in 1967 and started film making at the age of 16. He moved to Canada in 1988 to study film and political science. Since then he has made feature documentaries and news reports for international broadcasters. His films include The Voyage of the Saint Louis, Targets: Reporters in Iraq, Football, Iranian Style and Along Came a Spider, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 2005. Maziar has worked in Iraq consistently for the past four years.

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