Filmmakers Slam BBC for Withholding Gaza Documentary

The film, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, was commissioned by the BBC but produced by the independent company Basement Films. It was scheduled to air in February but was never broadcast.

In a statement, the BBC said the decision was made because airing the film could “risk creating a perception of partiality” while a separate review of another Gaza documentary was ongoing.

“We wanted the doctors’ voices to be heard,” the BBC said. “But we’ve reached the end of the road with these discussions.”

The film, also known as Gaza: Medics Under Fire, documents the lives of Palestinian medics during the war. The filmmakers said many medics agreed to be filmed despite fears that their stories would never reach the public.

Basement Films criticized the decision, saying the film underwent a lengthy compliance and fact-checking process and was given six different release dates. 

Its founder, Ben de Pear, publicly blamed BBC Director General Tim Davie for refusing to air it.

“The BBC is failing as an institution,” de Pear said at the Sheffield Documentary Festival. “It is not fulfilling its purpose in news and current affairs.”

One of the directors, journalist Ramita Navai, told BBC Radio 4 that Israel had “become a rogue state” committing war crimes in Gaza. 

Israel denies those claims. The comments reportedly played a role in the BBC’s decision to halt the documentary.

Backlash From Public Figures

The move drew criticism from artists and activists.

An open letter signed by Susan Sarandon, Gary Lineker, and others accused the BBC of censorship.

“This is not editorial caution. It’s political suppression,” the letter said. “No news organization should decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling.”

A separate film, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, was also pulled earlier this year when it was discovered that the 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

The BBC defended its overall coverage of the conflict, citing recent investigations into Israel’s use of bunker buster bombs and the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, along with documentaries like Life and Death in Gaza and Gaza 101.