The Times and The Sunday Times: The Unquiet Film Series - Bearing Witness

The Times today releases Bearing Witness – the seventh instalment in The Unquiet Film Series documenting the kidnapping and return of award-winning foreign correspondent Anthony Loyd and photographer Jack Hill in May of this year.

Loyd and Hill were returning to Turkey from the town of Tall Rifat when their vehicle was forced to the side of the road, they were captured and held in a warehouse. Both were brutally beaten and Loyd was shot twice in the leg at close range before the Islamic Front, a rebel group who had provided some security for the journalists, confronted the gang and demanded their release.

The new short film is told through the eyes of Loyd and Hill themselves and explores the battle between the growing trend for citizen journalism in areas of conflict versus independent, professional reporting and the endeavour for objective coverage in increasingly hostile environments.

The Times has a long heritage in war journalism going back to the Crimean War and beyond into the 1700s. Supporting the newspaper’s legacy in the field, Deputy Editor Emma Tucker and Deputy Foreign Editor Suzy Jagger provide commentary to reveal the importance of foreign correspondents for British press, including the processes and governance in place to safeguard these journalists on assignment.

The Unquiet Film Series is a collection of films celebrating the historical and cultural impact of The Times (est. 1785) and The Sunday Times (est. 1822) newspapers, crafted by some of the very best filmmakers through unprecedented access to 229 years of archive material. Bearing Witness is now open to all online at ForeverUnquiet.co.uk with future films set for release in the series over the coming months.

The project is the result of a collaboration between News UK, Team News creative agency Grey London, production company Betsy Works and Creative and Commercials Director, Phil Lind.