Behind the lens

“Al Jazeera Correspondent gives you a window,” says cameraman and filmmaker Ben Emery. “[It’s] sort of like you get to look behind the veil at some of the best journalists in the business and see that they are human and that the stories they cover do affect them.”

Emery has shot five films for the series: Mustang: A Kingdom on the edge , So Close Sor Far Away , MS & Me , The Colony , and this year’s  Metropolis .

“[Al Jazeera Correspondent films] are a bit different to what you are usually used to seeing on a news network. They’re different because you get to see an issue intimately from somebody that knows the story from the inside,” he says.

“Correspondent stories are the human stories. They are about how people are affected by events, by circumstance; and human stories are always the best stories to tell.”

Here, Ben shares more from his experiences working on four seasons of the series.

Which episodes have you filmed and what do you find interesting about the series?

Which was your favourite episode to film?

Many of the episodes you have filmed are based on deeply personal stories. Can you tell us about a particular moment that touched you?

Tell us about your experience filming The Colony: Chile’s Dark Past Uncovered

Tell us about your experience filming MS & Me

Tell us about the most recent film you shot,  Metropolis: A Time Lapse Perspective