Skye Fitzgerald, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
I'm so happy to be here, Trevor.
And I have to tell you, a South African friend of mine said
I should say "dis lekker"
-to start off with. -(laughs)
So I hope I got that right.
That should mean, like, "it's cool," right?
No, you have just cursed my entire family
and generations to follow.
That's what you have done.
Um, yes, no, you did--
you did say it pretty well, actually, um,
dis lekker, which means, um, "things are good.”
Um, the reason you're on the show
is because you have been nominated once again
for an amazing documentary short that you have put together.
And, once again,
it is-- it is a story about something that is taking place
in one of the most harrowing situations
in the world right now, and that is in Yemen.
Um, some people might hear about Yemen.
They might hear about Saudi Arabia, the U.S., et cetera,
but what exactly is happening on the ground right now?
Well, um, there was a civil war that started in,
you know, 2014.
Um, and Saudi Arabia intervened very quickly, uh, in that war,
mostly with a bombing campaign over the north of the country.
And, since then, there's been an air and sea blockade
over, uh, most of the country,
preventing foodstuffs, medicine, and diesel
from flowing freely in the country.
And this has resulted in what's known
as a human-caused famine.
So the fighting's going on on the front lines.
But, really, the-the largest effect
of the-- of the conflict is starvation, frankly.
It's the largest humanitarian, um,
disaster in the world at the moment.
And, uh, 100,000 people have already died of starvation.
And it's estimated that another 400,000 could die
by the end of the year, um, if the status quo doesn't change.
And, you know, that's-that's 75...
every 75 seconds, a child would die.
It's a-- it's a really grim, um, milestone
that-that Yemen is racing towards.
And I think a lot of people would ask the same question,
which would be, how is this happening?
Wh-Wh-- You know, where's the United Nations?
Or where are other countries?
And how are half a million people gonna starve to death
without getting any help?
There's this film that was done in forty-s-- 1946,
right after World War II, called Seeds of Destiny.
And I'd never heard of it before, but it's-it's--
it was a short doc that actually won the Academy Award that year,
and it focused on the effects of World War II on children.
And so there's these shots of, like, kids,
you know, uh, scavenging through garbage dumps for food.
And, right now, children in Yemen
are scavenging leaves for food sometimes.
And, you know...
Nazi Germany used starvation as a tool,
as a weapon of war.
And that's exactly what's happening in Yemen right now.
Saudi Arabia is throttling the country,
preventing foodstuffs from flowing in,
um, in a reasonable manner, and it's killing children.
And the kicker is that our tax dollars are going to fund that.
We're providing geopolitical cover for Saudi Arabia.
Um, and we're tacitly endorsing the blockade
by not calling them out and forcing them to end it.
So it's a quite horrible geopolitical dynamic
that the U.S. is in right now,
and we're calling for the Biden administration
to unilaterally withdraw all support for the Saudi coalition.
Your film has... showcased
a really interesting aspect of what is happening in Yemen.
And, um, the film is entitled Hunger Ward.
And you take us through the journey,
primarily through the lens of two health care givers,
two nurses and doctors, who are looking after people in Yemen
who have nothing and they're trying to keep them alive.
And, I mean, it's-it's truly the most against-all-odds story
that you could come across.
But you're there and y-you're filming these stories
and you-- and you're talking to these people.
The first part of my question is,
how are you getting this access?
'Cause, I mean, nobody can really be in Yemen.
And, secondly, why did you choose to tell this story?
Yeah. Well, you know, to answer that first one,
I-I thank you for doing a segment on Yemen here,
because, um, part of the problem is
that there's not enough focus on it, frankly.
Because access is so difficult.
You know, it took us over eight months
to get permission to-to, uh, enter the country,
uh, because there's basically a journalistic embargo
over the country enforced primarily by Saudi Arabia
and the Emirates.
So, you know, first it took us that long to get permission.
And then, once we were there, of course, it was--
you know, it was a conflict zone,
so we had to operate very, very carefully
in order to, you know,
uh, make sure we came back with the story
but didn't endanger any of the people
-we're collaborating with, um, either. -Mm-hmm.
You know, I'm-- One of the things that I'm really, uh,
believe in deeply is that I think in the media,
sort of, ecosystem, typically, we're-we're far too timid,
um, and concerned with offending or shocking audiences.
Um, and-and, you know, my view is that,
if you have the full consent and collaboration
of-of those you're working with,
and it's truly a-a collaborative effort,
then you really do them a disservice,
as well as your audience,
if you turn away, if-if you flinch,
if-if you cut away.
And I think that discomfort
that comes with looking at something really difficult
is really important.
Because if we keep looking,
then we can see it clearly.
And-and, frankly, I think it should be uncomfortable
to-to see children that are facing starvation.
But we need to see and we need to look at that child
in order to engage, right?
And to engage civil society, to change that current dynamic.
One-one of the difficult lines you have to walk
as a filmmaker though is figuring out how to tell a story
that everyone around the world should at least pay attention to
or understand and also not be in the position
where you're essentially creating poverty porn.
-That's right. -Now, you-you've been applauded
for the way you've covered, um, the-the--
you know, the war in Yemen.
You've been applauded for the way you've covered
the-the refugee crisis,
you know, along that region of the world.
And-and I wonder how you've managed to walk that line,
you know, whether-whether it's your subjects,
whether it's some of the people you've worked with,
whether it's the viewers.
Many have said, "Oh, this doesn't feel like
"I'm made to feel sorry for the people, but, rather,
to understand the plight that they're going through."
Yeah, that's exactly right.
You know, I-I think, you know,
cinema should be a force for good.
Um, and I think it can be an empathy machine,
to use Roger Ebert's words, you know?
And-and I think, in order to do that,
when the context is so difficult,
when-when the scale... you know, the stakes are life or death,
you know, you have to work from a foundation of trust,
and you have to, in every act, um, provide dignity
for those you're working with.
That's the only way to do it.
Um, you know, I-I never could have done this project if,
um, if I didn't have the-the deep trust and collaboration
of everyone in each one of these clinics and hospitals.
-And-and you know, what, Trevor? That took time. -Right.
You know, that took time and trust, and it was dynamic.
And we had to listen, and we had to pivot,
and we had to alter course and evolve our approach constantly
based on what was happening,
and, um, and whether families wanted us
to show something or not.
And the thing that surprised me personally was,
in this particular project,
where the scenes are so intimate sometimes,
um, almost to a tee,
every single family we worked with wanted us
to show every stage of treatment that their child received.
-Wow. -Regardless of outcome.
Even when a child passed away,
the family sort of almost pled with us sometimes
to do our best to include it
so that the rest of the world would know
that their child had just died
because there's an embargo over the country.
And they feel like that's the only way
that the status quo can change.
So we were moved by that,
and with that sort of intimacy came sort of,
I felt like a burden of responsibility, right,
to really execute the project with as much dignity as I could.
This film is essentially part of a trilogy
that, um, tells the story
of what is happening in that region in the world.
You know, the first was... was about, um,
Syrian doctors treating civilians in-in the war.
The second, Lifeboat, was about those
who have tried to flee, you know, um,
to-to the Mediterranean and to surrounding areas.
And this third one, Hunger Ward, is about what's happening
when people are trapped, literally,
within their own demise, and they can't seek a better life.
What do you hope the U.S.,
or even people on the ground in the U.S. could do,
and why should they do something?
Yeah, well, the good news is we can do something,
and we are doing something.
And-and if I'm thrilled by anything
with sort of the movement the film is a part of, it's that,
because this is a human-caused tragedy
that's unfolding right now,
we can intervene on it, and especially as Americans.
Um, we can stop the blockade by forcing Saudi Arabia
to, um, open up the airport in Sanaa,
in the north of the country, to allow the free flow
of goods and services through the Port of Hodeidah
where diesel isn't flowing freely.
And as a... as an American who's seen this with my own eyes,
I feel a deep obligation to make sure
that my taxpayer dollars
aren't funding the starvation of children.
So, really, you know, the good news is there is this movement.
It's a... it's a coalition of more than 70 lawmakers
that signed a letter last week urging the Biden administration
to unilaterally withdraw all support for the Saudi blockade.
-Mm-hmm. -Hollywood's getting involved.
Um, you know, Ruffalo has spoken out on this consistently.
Nick Kristof, you know, the intrepid journalist, speaks out.
-Right. -Apatow.
People are really starting to create a momentum for this
because we have to stand up, and we have to change it.
Well, hopefully, the film is the first step.
Congratulations on documenting the journey, and, uh, hopefully,
to your point, something will get done.
Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.
-And, uh, take care. -Yeah. Thank you.