Abstract

The Syria series

In the week marking the sixth anniversary of the conflict in Syria we are pleased to welcome Martin Chulov (The Guardian Middle East Correspondent) & Joshua Baker (Documentary film maker and foreign reporter) for a special screening and seminar about the recent PBS film ‘Battle for Mosul’ (produced by Josh Baker) and the potential future of Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East.

Speaker bios

Martin Chulov, who covers the Middle East for the Guardian, won the Orwell prize for journalism in 2015. He has reported from the region since 2005.

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/martin-chulov

Joshua is a self-shooting Filmmaker and Journalist. He began his career at The Times, on the foreign desk, as a researcher and later became a foreign night editor, running the second and third addition of the foreign section. He also reported for the paper from Turkey and Serbia (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/search?q=Joshua+Baker). But his passion is filmmaking for broadcast. Today he works with a number of organizations, the BBC , The Guardian Film, PBS FRONTLINE , ITV News, ITN Productions.

His most recent film The Battle For Mosul, saw him hit by an ISIS suicide bombing in Mosul. Other recent work includes breaking the global story of the death of Kadiza Sultana, the girl from Bethnal Green who joined ISIS , and her families attempted rescue plan. He was the only filmmaker the family would trust to document the situation from the inside. ITV News put him forward for a Foreign Press Award

He took Lily Allen to the Calais jungle for the BBC , a film that generated important debate around child refugees. It featured on 5 front pages after Lily chose to apologize on behalf of her country to a young Afghan refugee.

Additional work includes a feature film on the reality of the Middle East Peace Process, called “The Process”. Directing a series for ITN Productions and films on Islamophobia, Child marriage, Remote Healthcare, O2 customer data being sold on the dark web, Sexual Harassment, Hacking, a film with Robb Leech inside East London Mosque, shot over 8 months and more.

His work has been listed for The One World Media Best documentary award and an RTS and Asian Media Award. His work has also featured in British Cinematographer magazine.

He previously consulted for the charity Save The Children, where he would deploy to gather multimedia content and document unfolding events in humanitarian emergencies.

He has been lucky to work extensively in the Middle East, briefly living in the West Bank. In addition, he has worked in Iraq, Gaza, The West Bank, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Bosnia, The Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Uganda, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, France, Guatemala, USA and several flash points along the border with Syria.