Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark

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Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark
Bahrain shouting in the dark.png
GenreParticipatory documentary film
Written byMay Ying Welsh
Directed byMay Ying Welsh
Country of origin Bahrain
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer Jon Blair
EditorTuki Laumea
Running time51 minutes (1 hour slot, including 2 quick bulletin rundowns and fillers before, during and after)
Original release
Network Al Jazeera English
ReleaseAugust 4, 2011 (2011-08-04)
Related
Bahrain: Fighting for change [1]
Bahrain: Audacity of hope [1]

Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark is a television documentary film produced by Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera English about the 2011 Bahraini uprising. The film was first screened on 4 August 2011, featuring footage recorded during protests and police crackdowns, interviews with activists and physicians, as well as footage broadcast by Bahraini state television.

Contents

Production

Shouting in the Dark was written, directed and shot undercover in Bahrain by Al Jazeera journalist and filmmaker May Ying Welsh. It was edited by Al Jazeera's Tuki Laumea. The Executive Producer is veteran filmmaker Jon Blair. [2]

Shouting in the Dark has been translated into 8 languages, including Arabic, French, [3] Persian, [4] Czech, [5] Swedish, [6] Finnish, [7] Estonian, [8] and Portuguese, [9] by various national broadcasters and by fans.

Reception

In the first four days, the documentary received almost 200,000 views on YouTube. [10] Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifah criticised Qatar on his official Twitter account after the airing of the film:

من الواضح ان في قطر هناك من لا يريد خير للبحرين .. و ما الفيلم المكيف في الجزيرة انجليزي الا خير مثال على العداء الغير مفهوم It's clear that in Qatar there are those who don't want anything good for Bahrain. And this film on Al Jazeera English is the best example of this inexplicable hostility. [10] [11]

Rumours also developed on the internet of the Bahraini intention to cut off relations with Qatar; [12] however this was denied by Bahrain's foreign ministry. [13] [14] The film was finally re-broadcast on 11 August and was followed by a discussion [15] with the first deputy chairman of the Consultative Council of Bahrain Jamal Fakhro as the pro-government guest. [16]

Awards

Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark has won seven major journalism, film and television awards:

Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark was also nominated for a BAFTA, [25] and for a Royal Television Society Award. [26]

Other Al Jazeera films

Al Jazeera English has produced two additional films on Bahrain under the People & Power documentary strand: Bahrain: Fighting for Change, [27] and its follow-up Bahrain: Audacity of Hope. [28]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Bahraini uprising</span> Anti-government protests

The 2011Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and protests in Tunisia and Egypt and escalated to daily clashes after the Bahraini government repressed the revolt with the support of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Peninsula Shield Force. The Bahraini protests were a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of non-violent civil disobedience and some violent resistance in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the 70% Shia population.

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References

  1. 1 2 A half-hour documentary made for People & Power strand.
  2. "Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival" . Retrieved 26 January 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
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  4. "فرياد در تاريكي" . Retrieved 29 September 2011.
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  12. Middle East Online (5 August 2011). قال وقيل في الخليج: أنباء عن قطع البحرين علاقتها بقطر على خلفية برنامج الجزيرة (in Arabic). Retrieved 15 August 2011.
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  15. The New York Times (August 9, 2011). "Al Jazeera Changes Plan to Rerun Documentary" . Retrieved 15 August 2011.
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  17. Foreign Press Association. "FPA Media Awards 2011 - Winners". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
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  28. Al Jazeera. "Bahrain: Audacity of Hope'" . Retrieved 22 February 2012.