‘Kneecap’ director, Riz Ahmed and 700 other media figures criticise BBC for pulling Gaza doc

nme.com:

Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt, Riz Ahmed, and over 700 other artists have signed a letter to the BBC criticising the corporation for pulling a documentary about the lives of children in Gaza.Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone was removed from the iPlayer service after the BBC said it discovered the film’s 13-year-old narrator was the son of an official for Palestinian organisation Hamas.

BBC News reported that the board are set to meet to discuss the film today (February 27).An open letter from the network Artists For Palestine UK condemns the decision, and at the time of writing has over 700 signatories from across the entertainment industry.

Included in the list is actor and musician Riz Ahmed, Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett, Game of Thrones actor Indira Varma, Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes, film maker Ken Loach, and sports presenter Gary Lineker.Rich Peppiatt, who directed the film Kneecap, is also included in the list.

The band themselves are vocal supporters of Palestine on their social media platforms. When their film was left out of the Oscar nominations in January despite having been longlisted, the band responded by tweeting: “Fuck the Oscars.