23/03/2017

MBI Al Jaber Lecture Series : ‘Catastrophe Unfolding in Yemen’ – Film Screening by Nawal Al Maghafi

Nawal Almaghafi, BBC News Reporter and Film Director specialising in the Middle East but with a main focus on Yemen, presented the screening of two of her latest films at the MBI Al Jaber Lecture Series on Thursday, March 23rd. Nawal has reported extensively from Yemen during the past 6 years. Her most recent production, ‘The Funeral Bombing’, investigates an attack on a funeral and she worked tirelessly in areas held under rebel control to identify who was responsible for this deadly attack. Her earlier film ‘Starving Yemen’, produced for the BBC, was the first piece to document the country’s unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.

The MBI Al Jaber Seminar Room was filled to capacity and both films visibly moved the audience. Scenes included the plight of a young boy whose leg, trapped by falling masonry, was amputated by his father and himself in order to free him before the bombers returned to complete their task. Many children who hadn’t eaten properly for months looked emaciated, while others were dying from infections because appropriate medicines were not available to the medical staff trying to help them.

The screening was followed by a Q & A session where Nawal gave thought-provoking answers to a range of interesting questions from the audience. The event was co-hosted by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation and the British-Yemeni Society, who together with Gingko will be sponsoring “Buildings That Fill My Eye: The Architectural Heritage Of Yemen”, the forthcoming photographic exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, curated by Professor Trevor Marchand. For more information please go to: http://mbifoundation.com/events.asp

For further information, please contact:
Director Public Relations
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