Under the guise of tourism, French journalist Pierre Stéphane Fort traveled to Qatar to shoot behind the scenes. A few months before the match starts Toilet. The methods he used led to the detection of serious mistakes by the Qataris king promises.
But in a country without a free press, everything had to be documented in secret – and with minimal equipment:
– I had two cameras. One of them was my smartphone. I used the latest iPhone with a good camera, then a hidden camera the size of a coin. He’s been with me everywhere, Fort tells NRK.
Close: Fort films himself in the car after arriving in Qatar. Outside the car, the risk of getting stuck on the road is high.
Photo: StudioFact
Although the equipment was simple, the tickets were unique. Namely, they showed a reality different from what the announcements and regulations of the ruling authorities promise.
But what if it was exposed?
I saw the same thing everywhere
In the documentary Qatar World Cup: a dirty game about a lot How Qatar won the FIFA World Cup in the first place. A high-level meeting in the regime in France and questions about corruption Become He followed closely at the seams, but Fort also closely examined conditions in the country – This is where unconventional methods were used.
With the help of a local director, as in the documentary Become calls to “John”Among other things, he visited several industrial areas in Doha and entered where many migrant workers live. Specifically the insurance workers who will be working in Qatar during the tournament.
Snapshots of these homes reveal serious violations of the law.
The documentary shows the dire health conditions of insurance workers.
The kitchen facilities are not particularly appetizing either.
Workers are allowed to carry their own clothes, but clothes and shoes are hand washed in buckets.
It is portrayed as both dirty and limited possibilities in the kitchen.
There is also plenty of space in the bedroom.
In documentaries, you can see cockroaches running around the floor and walls.
– I visited between 10 and 20 labor camps. many of them. I saw the same thing everywhere. Very poor living conditions, he told Forte.
In order to shoot these photos, gav Outside I aspire to be a remote experimenter, among other things. He also bought what he calls “Immigrant clothing,” which he explained was to avoid looking like a random tourist.
But the journalist also secretly filmed where migrant workers have free time. It is claimed that a movie from a beach called “California” has never been filmed before. Here, migrant workers take a great opportunity to drink alcohol, which is forbidden in Qatar.
The stakes: In the documentary, assistant John explains that workers come to a California beach to drink alcohol and socialize.
Breaking the law
The construction requirements also violate Qatari legislation. The documentary has been recorded for the past nine months.
According to the Qatari authorities, each person must have a minimum of six square meters in the bedroom, and they must be separated by a barrier or curtain for privacy.
In some of the rooms visited by Fort, up to six people were served in an area of \u200b\u200bten square meters:
The kitchen should have a cool room and the possibility of washing hands. Many of the forts visited did not have any of the following:
Fort Filmar’s kitchen facilities are simple.
These hot plates are allegedly shared by 200 people in the arch unit.
The governing authorities also advertise in a gymnasium, indoor activities such as billiards, and large green areas outside. But in the areas where Fort traveled, the area was littered with rubbish and no green spot could be seen:
He thinks he will be arrested
The residence in Qatar has resulted in large amounts of photographic material. To ensure nothing was stolen from him if he was caught, he had the same routine every night.
– Every morning I thought the police would come and knock on the door and arrest me. So every night after filming, I would use a good VPN and send all the material to Paris, to my press agency. I didn’t sleep much, because it took time to send the files. After the transfer, I deleted everything on the mobile. So, if the police came in the morning, they wouldn’t find the movies and they wouldn’t be able to identify the movies you shot, he said.
Documentation: After he sent all the contents to Paris, Fort deleted all evidence on the mobile phone.
Photo: StudioFact
The journalist believed that he had no choice when it came to using hidden cameras and fictional roles.
– I was just there “Tourist”. I didn’t say anything to the authorities. Usually you have to say three to four weeks in advance where you are going to shoot, who you are going to meet and all that. Had I done that, I wouldn’t have had the chance to…
He paused a bit before talking about the arrest of two NRK journalists judging what would have happened if he had filmed the opening.
– There is no press freedom in Qatar, so the only way to operate freely is to be “undercover”.
Qatar joined the day after the documentary was broadcast on television for the first time Stricter rules for filming in the country during the World Cup, according to the Guardian.
– They chose to incriminate it. They would rather do this than improve the conditions for workers there. They prefer a ban on filming, Fort tells NRK.
French filmmakers mention in the documentary that they made 15 attempts to interview Qatari authorities – without success. NRK has also attempted to obtain a comment from the ruling authorities, but has yet to receive a response.
- Watch the documentary “Qatar WC: dirty game” on NRK TV:
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