Alhurra Investigates

Date and time: Thursday, May 7, 2020, 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time

Register here.

The US Agency for Global Media’s first-ever Press Freedom Film Festival aims to educate audiences on the importance of press freedom around the world and will provide viewers with a better understanding of the kind of products USAGM’s networks create, as well as an inside look at the media environments in which they operate and the challenges they face reporting in these regions.

Each film will be accompanied by live chat with in-depth information on the target country’s media environment and press freedom trends, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and further information on the network and the filmmakers. The screenings will also be followed by a conversation with the journalists and network representatives.

The festival will be screening two of the most compelling and informative investigative reports in the Arabic media, produced by Alhurra Television:

Alhurra Investigates – ISIS’s Prisoners; Selling to the Highest Bidder

(15 minutes) This episode, which was a finalist in the New York Festivals for Best Documentary: Human Concerns and Best Investigative Report, explores the aftermath of ISIS being driven out of Iraq and the effort to locate kidnapped Yazidi children, many of whom are being trafficked and sold on the black market. The episode also investigates stories of organ harvesting of these young victims.

Followed by a conversation with Ghalia Bdiwe, Alhurra Investigative Reporter

Alhurra Investigates – Iran’s Money Laundering Through Imported Fruit

(15 minutes) This episode shows how Iran seems to be laundering money through the exportation of fruit to Iraq. Iran’s exports to Iraq were growing exponentially, increasing by more than 15-fold. This report shows that in 2017, Iranian exports to Iraq jumped from $2 billion to $8.7 billion. Half of that increase was due to only two products … watermelon and tomatoes. These two products were supposedly exported at a rate that would have made it impossible for Iraqis to consume it all. The report also shows the devastating consequences this exchange has had on Iraqi businesses.

Followed by a conversation with Maan Aljizzani, Alhurra Investigative Reporter