Susan Sarandon and more than 600 other actors and filmmakers signed and sent an open letter to the BBC this week, demanding the network air a delayed documentary about medics in Gaza. According to the letter obtained by TheWrap, the network is engaging in “political suppression” rather than “editorial caution.”
The doc at the heart of the letter is “Gaza: Medics Under Fire,” which details the experiences of medical workers in Gaza amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The film is produced by Emmy and Peabody recipients Ben de Pear, Karim Shah and Ramita Navai, and was originally scheduled to air in January, but has been delayed.
Per the letter from UK Screen Industry, 130 of the anonymous signatories are made up of “more than a dozen BBC staff.”
“The BBC continues to demonstrate bias in its reporting and coverage of events in Gaza, raising continued concern and criticism about the balance and impartiality of its journalism in this region,” the letter reads.
The signatories also noted that the film has been “indefinitely delayed” despite having gone through proper fact-checking and being “signed off” on.
“This is not editorial caution. It’s political suppression. The BBC has provided no timeline, no transparency. Such decisions reinforce the systemic devaluation of Palestinian lives in our media,” they wrote. “It’s hard not to conclude that the BBC’s gatekeeping is rooted in racism. The message is clear: Programs about the ongoing genocide, told from Palestinian perspectives, are held to a different standard.”
The letter ends by calling for the immediate release of the documentary: “No news organization should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors’ bravery honored.”
The BBC did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
The post Susan Sarandon Among 600+ Actors and Filmmakers Who Demand Release of Gaza Doc at BBC appeared first on TheWrap.