• Director(s):

    HAKEM (Tewfik)

  • Producer(s):

    RIFF PRODUCTION

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2002

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    NON-THEATRICAL, TV, VOD, DVD, INTERNET

Al-Jezira is the most-watched 24-hour news channel in the Arab world. We meet the people who make and present its programmes.

Little-known until 11 September, its fame spread rapidly following the terrorist attacks on New York. In this documentary, filmed on the channel's premises in Doha, Qatar, we meet the people who make and present its programmes.
All through the report, one is struck by the contrast between the apparent conformism of Arab societies and al-Jezira's provocative editorial policies. The star newscaster is a woman, Algerian presenter Khadidja Bengana, and al-Jezira also boasts the first female Arab sports journalist, Leila Smati, who succeeds in reporting from places women are not usually even allowed to set foot in, through sheer determination.
This is an inside view of a television channel that is immensely popular in the Arab world and upsets the rest of the world's preconceptions.