Libya 2011: Through the Fire

A film by Abdallah Omeish

In 2011, a wave of uprisings swept across the Arab world, with pro-democracy protests spreading from Tunisia to Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and beyond.

Within days of the protests in Libya, over 200 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

“We saw things you wouldn’t imagine to see in a hundred years,” said Dr Anas at Benghazi Hospital. “It was like war. “

We want our human rights. Our basic human rights. We want to be free. Long live Libya, long live free Libya.

by Mohammed Nabbous, Libyan citizen journalist, founder of Libya AlHurra TV

Libyan-born filmmaker Abdallah Omeish travelled to Benghazi in February 2011. The city had declared itself liberated but was still suffering from snipers and bombardments from Gaddafi’s regime.

He followed citizen journalist Mohammed Nabbous, who founded Libya Alhurra TV, the first independent broadcast news organisation since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi took power in Libya in 1969.

On February 19, 2011, the station started broadcasting online when Nabbous established a two-way satellite connection in the wake of a complete internet blackout imposed by the Gaddafi government after the February 17 protests.

Nabbous moved every couple of hours to avoid detection and capture as he travelled around Benghazi recording the revolution and streaming the plight of the Libyan people to the world.

“We want our human rights. Our basic human rights. We want to be free. Long live Libya, long live free Libya,” said Nabbous.

Through the eyes of a Libyan-born filmmaker, this film explores the dark stories that emerged from the country during the first days of the 2011 Libyan uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Editor’s note: This documentary was first broadcast in 2012.