Escaping Eritrea

Escaping Eritrea
Directed byEvan Williams
Music byNicholas A. Phillips
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerEvan Williams
CinematographyReal footage
EditorsDeb Holland
Bradley Manning
Running time53 minutes
Production companiesPBS
Channel 4
Original release
Release4 May 2021 (2021-05-04)

Escaping Eritrea is a 2021 English documentary episode produced and directed by Evan Williams.[1] The co-producers are Daffodil Altan, Priyanka Boghani, Daniel Edge, Max Green, Erika Howard, Michelle Mizner and Evan Williams. The real footage was taken by Michael, who was also a refugee from Eritrea who moved to Europe. He put the camera in a jacket pocket with a hole and began filming what was going on around him.[2][3]

The documentary based on the refugee crisis between 2015 and 2016 occurred across the Mediterranean where large groups coming across into Europe from Eritrea.[4] It took five years for the investigations and some secretly documented footage inside a prison also included in the documentary.[5] It made its television premier on 4 May 2021 on PBS through Frontline in United States and later telecast in Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.[6][7]

Cast

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  • Isias Afwerki - President of Eritrea (archive footage)
  • Priyanka Boghani - Reporter
  • Sarah Childress - Reporter
  • Yemane Gebreab - Adviser to president of Eritrea (archive footage)
  • Sheila B. Keetharuth - Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Eritrea
  • Sophie Okonedo - Narrator (voice)
  • Mike Smith - Chair Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea (archive footage)
  • Hanna Petros Solomon - Eritrean refugee and activist
  • Evan Williams - Reporter
  • Judy Woodruff
  • Katie Worth - Reporter

References

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  1. ^ Singh, Anita (16 June 2021). "Undercover in Africa's Secret State: Dispatches, review: this report on Eritrea was truly brave journalism". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  2. ^ Taddonio, Patrice (4 May 2021). "'I Didn't Lose Hope': Meet a Man Who Risked His Life to Secretly Film Inside One of Eritrea's Brutal Prisons". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Escaping Eritrea: FRONTLINE". 4 May 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ Petros, Michael (2 June 2021). "Reflections on the documentary 'Escaping Eritrea'". One Day Seyoum. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. ^ Boghani, Priyanka (4 May 2021). "'Escaping Eritrea' Filmmaker Evan Williams Describes 'Phenomenal Sacrifice' of Eritreans Sneaking Footage Out of Country". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Escaping Eritrea". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Escaping Eritrea". pbsinternational.org. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
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Accolades

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2021 Peabody Award Winner