Every time I hear his voice when he phones me from London, I immediately remember (Abu Dhabi TV channel), which was distinguished among other satellite channels ten years ago! Mohamed Saeed reminds me of some of my adventures when I was covering the war on Afghanistan and Iraq. I also remind him of his TV program "Meqas al-Raqeeb" and his wonderful episodes on the Palestinian prisoners in Israel and genocides in Somalia. Together we remember that bleak morning, when we woke up a few months after the occupation of Baghdad, to find that the new world order changed the nature of Abu Dhabi TV channel!
The channel, despite its success, withdrew from competition and its workers worked for other channels! I have not heard news about Saeed for a long time. We started to work in a single institution once again although he is in London and I'm in Cairo! A few weeks ago, I knew that he got a prize from Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival for his film Aai Kalam (any words)!
During his interview with Al-Jazeera correspondent, Saeed's features were filled with unusual joy! I said to myself, Saeed wins for our generation! Colleague Riham Gouda of Al-Masry Al-Youm helped me get a copy of Saeed's 17-minute film. At the beginning of the film, Saeed underwent surgery to remove a tumor on his brain! He asked one of his friends to carry the camera and film the surgery! During the entry of anesthetic into his veins, Saeed started to remember the days of childhood, a black and white photo with his father, another photo of Jewish settlers attacking journalists and photographers, and another photo of Somali persons pulling bodies on the ground! After that, the film depicted the first plane while hitting the World Trade Center in New York. Then two faces appeared: Osama bin Laden, who seemed to be silent in an unusual scene, and George Bush, who seemed to be confused while talking about terrorism that targeted his country! Amid all this, Saeed portrayed the news-makers moving the media men like chess pieces! He also screened a meeting with an Egyptian immigrant, who told him that she used to enjoy his Meqas al-Raqeeb TV program while preparing food in the kitchen! Driven by the shock of the US occupation of Baghdad, Saeed wore a clown costume and held a microphone to reveal that he stood at a certain point on the map of freedom in the new Middle East! In another scene, he depicted what he saw as an attempt from him to promote wrong information. He provoked an Iraqi official in Saddam Hussein's regime by repeating the charges that used to be leveled by the US media. The official got angry and wanted to take the filmstrip. Saeed deceived him and gave him another filmstrip. When journalist Riham Gouda asked him about this incident, Saeed said he felt that he was one of those who tied the noose around the neck of Saddam Hussein! At the end of the film, the doctor managed to remove the tumor and Saeed stood alone in a wide desert to suddenly decide to run away escaping from his beloved, namely the camera. Saeed tried himself and pushed all of us as journalists and media men to look in the mirror, in the hope that one day we may recognize our professional mistakes! [email protected]
