Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC) won the Gold award for best medium length film for its production Baghdads Angel at the closing ceremony of the Al Jazeera 6th International Documentary Film Festival.
The 52 minute documentary by Director Rasheed Mashharawi shows the hardship of children in Iraq through the eyes of Hawraa, a 10 old year girl who walks the streets begging support for her family.
As Mashharawi lands in Baghdad on a mission to produce a series of documentaries highlighting the labour of Arab children in December 2008, the war in his homeland Gaza erupts. The film consequently illustrates the tragic similarity between Iraq and Gaza, showing the grave influence of war and conflict on the lives of children.
Mr. Mahmoud Bouneb, JCCs Executive General Manager commented: JCCs has been marking major presence through such works in regional and international film festivals in an attempt to promote and distribute such productions to other broadcasters; although those movies were not produced to primarily broadcast on JCC; however, they highlight the committed editorial policy of the Channel to unveil the issues Arab children are facing in their home countries and around the world.
The Gold award is in recognition of JCCs production strategy in the last few years. With more than 50 films produced in collaboration with Arab and international filmmakers and specialized production houses, JCC has received prestigious prizes like the Ecumenical Prize at the Berlinale this year for Aisheen, a film about the war in Gaza in 2008, and last years Special Jury Award at the Osian Cinefan festival in New Delhi for Wailing Wall. Since 2006, JCC has taken home two Gold and two Silver awards at Al Jazeera International Film Festival.