The World Stopped Watching

20031 h 21 min 52 secFilm: Documentary

G

Direction: Peter Raymont

Production: Peter RaymontHarold CrooksLindalee TraceyÉric MichelClaude Bonin (National Film Board of Canada)

Script: Peter RaymontHarold Crooks

Co-produced by White Pine Pictures and the National Film Board of Canada, with the participation of TVOntario, SCN, Knowledge Network, CFCF12, CIDA, the Rogers Documentary Fund and the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund.

The World Stopped Watching is a sequel to The World Is Watching (1987), a cinema verité investigation of the role journalists played in the US-financed Contra war against Nicaragua's revolutionary Sandinista government. Broadcast around the globe and honoured with many awards, including a Genie Award for Best Documentary, a Gold Hugo (Chicago) and prizes from Nyon (Switzerland) and Berlin, The World Is Watching revealed the precarious decision-making process behind the nightly news.

Filmmakers Peter Raymont and Harold Crooks returned to Nicaragua in 2002 to discover what became of the people and a nation no longer in the glare of the world's media. Accompanied by legendary Newsweek photographer Bill Gentile and acclaimed Boston Globe columnist Randolph "Ry" Ryan, whow covered the Contra war, the filmmakers travel throughout the impoverished country. They encounter Nicaraguans from every level of society, including former president Daniel Ortega. Gilles Paquin, of Montreal's La Presse, offers a current view of the country, including the unfolding drama where, for the first time in Latin American history, a former president has been jailed for corruption.

Subject categories


  • War, Conflict and Peace > Caribbean, Central and South AmericaPeace and Peacekeeping
  • Developing Countries > Central America and the CaribbeanWar, Conflict and Peace
  • Media and Communication > Journalism and News ReportingPrint Media and PublishingSocial IssuesTelevision Broadcasting and Production

Credits


director
Peter Raymont
producer
Peter Raymont
Harold Crooks
Lindalee Tracey
Claude Bonin
executive producer
Éric Michel
commissioning editor
Rudy Buttignol
writer
Peter Raymont
Harold Crooks
director of photography
John Westheuser
sound recordist
Peter Sawade
editor
Michael Fuller
additional music
Rob Carli
assistant director
Andrew Munger
interpreter
Yunit Armengol
fixer
Yunit Armengol
archival research
Abbie Fields
location manager
Abbie Fields
production supervisor
Kate Harrison
post-production supervisor
Jeff Wilson
translation
Yunit Armengol
Antonio Arribas
Mary Luz Mejia
Yolande Tremblay
assistant editor
Alyson Fuller
online editor
Andrew Mandziuk
sound editor
Janice MacNeil
assistant sound editor
Jakob Thiesen
sound re-recording
Serge Boivin
Jean Paul Vialard
production assistance
Kate Russell
Sean Cassidy
production accounting
Dorothy Bastien
Patricia Johnston
legal counsel
Goodmans LLP
Gylane St-Georges
administrator
Maryse Chapdelaine
administrator - assistant
Marie-Christine Nadon
Daniel Gosselin
post-production
Claude Cardinal
post-production facilities
Kitchen Sync Digital Audio
The Fearless Film & Video Corporation

Awards


  • Honorable Mention - Category: War & Peace International Film and Video Festival
  • Special Mention - Award given by the Jury from the European UnionFIPADOC- Festival international documentaire
  • Special Mention - Category: Reportage and current affairsFIPADOC- Festival international documentaire
  • Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Documentary ProgramGemini Awards