Zeppelin Films has been commissioned by Channel 5 to make Murdered By A Mob: The Killing of Bijan Ebrahimi (1 x 90).
The new 90 minute documentary explores a 21st Century witch-hunt, told in forensic detail over the last 48 hours of murdered Iranian asylum seeker Bijan Ebrahimi’s life. The documentary has been commissioned for Channel 5 by Commissioning Editor, Daniel Louw.
Produced by Elliot Reed’s indie Zeppelin Films, the film tells the story of the murder of a refugee living on a South Bristol council estate, harassed by a hate-fuelled vigilante mob and brutally killed by a neighbour who wrongly thought he was a paedophile. The new documentary will tell the story of a mob murder, a police force that looked the other way and a victim failed by the authorities repeatedly.
Alongside witness testimony, the film use material from hours of police custody CCTV, footage from Bijan’s phone, and 20 plus phone calls made by Bijan to the police begging for help. This feature length documentary directed by Steven Grandison pieces together footage and evidence from the days leading up to Bijan’s death and tries to understand what happened that night, and why.
Bijan’s murder resulted in two police officers being jailed and two being dismissed. The IPCC found ‘hallmarks of racial bias’ in the police and a serious case review found evidence of ‘institutional racism’ in the council and police, in a case many refer to as the ‘Bristol’ Stephen Lawrence.
Elliot Reed, executive producer, said ‘This is a twisting, turning story that exposes a dark heart developing in Britain’s communities – where a fear of sex-offenders caused locals to turn on a so-called outsider, and violence is justified because the police ‘won’t do anything’. It’s a story where nothing is quite as it seems, from the heart of anti-social Britain, where you’re never quite sure who is the victim, who is the scapegoat and who is the ring leader.”
Jon Creamer
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