Filmmakers Must Reveal the Truth, Not Mask Tragedy,” Says Award-Winning Director Daizy Gedeon
April 20, 2026
During my recent interview with Reham Morsi on @qnewsegy we discussed whether filmmakers should ignore the political complexity of a story and focus only on the human suffering.
My response was that we as filmmakers have a responsibility to strip away the facade and force the world to look at the tragedy they’ve been taught to ignore.
We don’t need content that makes people comfortable. We need facts that stir people to take action.
Silence protects the status quo.
Truth disrupts everything.
#DaizyGedeon #RehamMorsi #QNewsEgy #fyp #viral
English Script:
Reham Morsi: Okay. Let’s get your perspective here as a filmmaker. Now, how would you document the suffering when it comes to Lebanon? You spoke extensively about it without losing the political complexity of the war. Obviously, things are now, you know, black and white when it comes to the Middle East.
Daizy: No, you’re absolutely right. And as a filmmaker and I always go back to this is the core of who I am, firstly as a journalist and a filmmaker. And to your question, I would never want to lose the political complexity of a situation, even to convey just the suffering because that will be taking it out of context and failing to identify the reasons that caused the suffering. As a filmmaker, yes I can choose to look at the human cost of the war, which inspires empathy and sadness. But what’s the point of empathy if it doesn’t also provide answers and the reasons to help us prevent a suffering in the future? Filmmakers have a responsibility to provide context, to do the hard work of digging deeper, asking more and better questions, chasing leads, being brave to ask the controversial questions that might cause conflict. But our job, first and foremost as filmmakers, is to uncover the real story, not provide window dressing that masks the tragedy. That’s my job.
