Anne Poiret (born December 6, 1976) is a French journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has won numerous prizes and awards, including the 2007 Albert Londres Prize,[1][2][3] the 2022 International Emmy Awards for best documentary,[4][5] and the 2024 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary.[6] She focuses on underreported conflicts, investigating a range of topics related to war and post-war situations.
Poiret has worked for various editorial offices and news magazines, including C dans l’air on France 5, "Envoyé Spécial" on France 2, as well as "Arte reportage" on Arte.[2] She writes and directs documentaries about topics such as: aftermath of armed conflicts, human and political consequences of wars, and actions of the United Nations and other international non-governmental organizations.[2][8]
Her first film, Muttur: Crime against Humanitarians,[9] investigates the unsolved murder of 17 humanitarian workers in Sri Lanka. It earned the prestigious Albert Londres Prize.[2][3]
Many of her subsequent films focus on countries going through postwar reconstruction, such as Iraq[10] and the Republic of South Sudan.[11][12] She has also investigated the genocide of the Herero and Namas in Namibia,[13] as well as the situation in the regions of Donbass,[14] Kashmir,[15] and Syria[16][2]
Much of Poiret's work questions the actions of public authorities and international companies (e.g. Epidemics: the invisible threat[17], Welcome to Refugeestan[18] or My country makes weapons[19][20]).
Her documentaries are usually released first on French public television network; many are subsequently broadcast on European, Canadian, Australian, Japanese and the Middle Eastern TV channels.
One of her most recent documentaries, Iraq’s Lost Generation,[21] won the 2022 International Emmy Awards for best documentary.[4][22][23] Another one, Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus, won the 2024 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary.[6][24]
2023: Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus[30]
Iraq's lost generation
Her first Emmy-award winning documentary, Iraq's Lost Generation,[21] focuses on the “Cubs of the Caliphate” a generation of young and forgotten victims of the war against the Islamic State. These are the children of families who had pledged allegiance to the caliphate and are now denied any legal existence.[31][32]
The film was sold on 20 networks including Al Jazeera English, BBC Arabic and NHK. It has already received multiple awards,[33] including the 2022 International Emmy Awards for best documentary.[4][34]
Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus
Her first Emmy-award winning film, Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus, is a two-part documentary produced by PBS Frontlines and Forbidden Films (a branch of Forbidden Stories). This series delves into the Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli NSO Group, which has been sold to multiple governments worldwide. The investigation, part of the broader Pegasus Project, reveals the use of the spyware against journalists, human rights activists, and individuals close to Jamal Khashoggi. The series premiered in early 2023, and it won the 2024 Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Documentary.[6][24]
