Gaza-focused documentaries win prizes at International Emmy Awards

Two television documentaries centred on Israel’s war on Gaza and the plight of the Palestinian people won in their respective categories at the 53rd International Emmy Awards on Monday.

UK broadcaster Channel 4 won the award for best current affairs programme with "Kill Zone: Inside Gaza," an episode of its Dispatches series, while Al Jazeera Arabic won in the best news category with "Gaza: Search for Life".

Produced by Basement Films, "Kill Zone: Inside Gaza" centres on 12 Palestinian filmmakers who risked their lives to show viewers life under Israel’s genocidal military onslaught.

The documentary, released in May 2024, shows war in the Palestinian enclave through the eyes and testimonies of children, journalists, and medical staff.

Among those featured is prominent British Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah, who treated patients in Gaza following the outbreak of the war, and Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary, who emerged as one of Gaza’s most prominent voices.  

The production was described by Channel 4 as "an intimate portrait of life in the face of Israel’s massive military assault".

Filming took place in Deir al-Balah, Gaza City, and Khan Younis.

The production highlighted the plight of journalists coming together to report on Israel’s war, while trying to survive daily assaults and Israel’s deliberate targeting of media workers.

"Kill Zone: Inside Gaza" also showed the mental strain paramedics are under as they try to save lives and search for bodies under rubble, while also trying to survive themselves under Israel’s strikes while keeping it together for the sake of their profession.

In the documentary, sisters Lama and Sama speak of Israel’s assault and of their frustration at being unable to sleep under the constant buzzing sounds of drones, as they both reminisced about their lives prior to the brutal assault.

Some of the war’s most significant events, such as the death of Palestinian premature babies, the siege of Al-Shifa Hospital, and Palestinian people's displacement are portrayed.                    

Al Jazeera Arabic's "Gaza: Search for Life" shows Palestinians giving their accounts of life one year into the war. They spoke of the struggle of survival, losing loved ones, and the carrying out of professional duties despite the mortal danger they were in.

The documentary featured Nour al-Wahidi, a doctor at Al-Shifa Hospital, Yahya al-Sarraj, the head of the municipality of Gaza, Ibrahim Aburish, the head of the civil defence services in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood, and Bashir Ghabn, the head of emergency vehicle services.

It also featured Mahmoud Zaaitar, an artist and influencer.

Al-Wahidi, for example, was displaced a total of eight times during the documented period, while Zaaitar escaped death after his home was bombed in February 2024. He had also lost 30 members of his family.

Following the win, Vanessa Bowles, the British-Lebanese filmmaker who produced the Channel 4 documentary, said that the Palestinian filmmakers who worked on the production are currently trying to survive the ceasefire, which is being violated almost daily by Israel.

Bowles said that none of the filmmakers were able to attend the ceremony, held in New York, due to the blockade preventing them from leaving Gaza and restrictions on travelling overseas.

"It was an incredibly heartbreaking process to have witnessed what we did in the film. It also feels extremely shameful not to have our colleagues with us."

Algerian journalist Fairouz Ziani, producer and presenter of the Al Jazeera documentary, said she was honoured to win the award, stressing that sending a message of "hope" was the goal of the production.

"Even amid war and loss of life, people in Gaza still have hope. They want to live, and they are searching for life beneath the rubble of their beloved city," she said.

The International Emmys are part of the wider Emmy Awards, and aims to recognise television programming outside of the United States.

Since the start of the war in the enclave, several Gaza-focused documentaries and figures have gained global recognition for portraying Israel's vicious onslaught to the outside world.

Last year, Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda won an Emmy award for Outstanding Hard News Feature Story for her AJ+ documentary "It’s Bisan from Gaza- and I’m Still Alive".

The New Arab was also a Lovie Award recipient for its five-part podcast series "Sanaa’s Odyssey," which chronicles journalist Sanaa Kamal and her family’s survival under Israeli assault, and their subsequent escape.