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In I had seen the film a few times in various stages of completion. For an American production it was edited at a much slower pace than what I've become accustomed to. Only when I saw it on a full screen, not on a laptop while riding on a train or a TV at home, did I appreciate just how powerful it was. It came as close to capturing the reality of how news is gathered in dangerous areas as anything else I have seen on screen. The pace of the editing reflected the way things actually get done--from running down false story leads to interminable rides on rough roads in cheap cars with suspensions worn away a few hundred thousand kilometers ago and flashes of duck-and-run danger with a lot of menace and very little glory--and a sense of laughing relief once you've made it out to safety.
There is very little glamour in the process and the film was distinctly not glamorous, but Ian and his team and Christian had pushed for something much more profound and damn near nailed it perfectly. A lot of young people ask me how they can get into international reporting--their J-school professors should make this mandatory viewing for them.
For the audience of a few hundred--most of them stayed after the screening for the discussion--it was a blunt view into how news is collected in conflict zones and chaotic countries, and the role of the people who have come to be called fixers--the local journalists with the language and cultural skills to act as the interlocutors between foreign journalists and the people they are reporting on.
CPJ became deeply involved in working to help Daniele Mastrogiacomo
and Ajmal, and their driver Sayed Agha, after they were kidnapped on March 4,
2007, in
With the help of Teru Kuwayama, a New York-based freelance photographer who founded Lightstalkers, a Web site for freelance journalists, filmmakers, photographers, we were able to get nearly 300 journalists to sign an open letter urging the release of Naqshbandi. We were unsuccessful. Ajmal was beheaded by the men who held him on April 8.
I didn't know Ajmal, but those who did and have seen The Fixer: The taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi, were clearly moved. My daughter-in-law, a South Korean documentary filmmaker, had worked with him often. She watched the movie at times in tears. This film comes close to capturing what Ajmal did for a living, his role in the newsgathering process, and it seems to have come close to capturing him as a person too.
Distribution for these sorts of documentaries can be a problem, but the good news is that it has been picked up by HBO, so you will be able to see it sometime in the near future.
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i am from ladakh...in state of Jammu and Kashimir/india.I have been media and documentary production for more than three years. Now i am working as fixer.for all kind or documentary..
travelling and tourism... as was assiciated with some french and england documentry production.
i would be very happy to help in any kind of information including travelling..
A fixer can be the reason of winning prizes for a documentary, news or etc in both ways: "Alive or Dead"
I am an Afghan Journalist, I used to work as a fixer for about 7 years in Media, I have assisted more then 8 award winning documentaries, putting my life in danger.
recently I was working as a journalist, I have produced several short TV documentaries showed trough local TV channels,
But its about 5 months I left my country, to save my life, if I didn't scape???
I could be famous as Ajmal after being beheaded... but unfortunately nobody asked me where I am, how do I manage my life, every body finished contracts and run for getting awards, forgotten the locale fixer... but still good chance to produce a another news to look back if some thing happens on a fixer. "May God bless Ajmal"