Date: September 2009
Location: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan
Distributor: BBC, National Geographic etc. – 6×60 min.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Co-director and producer – Sam Simon
2nd cameraman – Robin Shek
Editors – Julia Frater, Paul Jackson, John Walker, Mike Clark-Hall, David Aitkinson
Production Company - Big Earth

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Date: February 2009
Location: Afghanistan
Distributor: Channel 4 UK (12 July 2009) – 46 min.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Co-director and 2nd cameraman - Jim Foster
Editor – Olivia Baldwin / Production Company – Darlow Smithons Productions

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Date: November 2008
Location: Nigeria, Sri Lanka, India
Distributor: YouTube, www.youth-business.org
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

This playlist shows the three finalists of the Youth Business International Entrepreneur Award 2008.

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Date: March 2008
Location: UK to Sierra Leone
Distributor: DVD
Credits: filmed, directed and partly edited by Claudio von Planta

Editors: Julia Frater and Sebastian Smith / Graphics: Jonathan Richards
Composers: Barrie Bignold and Miko Giedroyc

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Date: February 2008
Location: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Ghana
Distributor: Terrestrial TV in the UK
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

The advertising agency Publicis hired me to direct, shoot and edit 36 television adverts of 30 and 40 seconds length.
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Date: June 2007
Location: UK to South Africa
Distributor: BBC, National Geographic etc. – 8×45 min.
Credits: directed, filmed and partly edited by Claudio von Planta (on 3rd motorbike)

Producers Directors: David Alexanian + Russ Malkin
DOP with support crew 1: Jim Foster / DOP for the preparation + support crew 2: Jimmy Simak
Editors: Julia Frater, Paul Jackson
Official website: www.longwaydown.com

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Date: April 2007
Location: UK and Iraq
Distributor: Channel 4 News UK (8 May 2007)
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

This is an investigation into the Forced Repatriation of Iraqi Kurds who failed to obtain asylum in Britain.
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Date: March 2007
Location: Iraq
Distributor: Channel 4 News UK (8 May 2007)
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

Presented by Karzan Sherabayani

With Karzan Sherabayani’s Kurdish connections we managed to hook up with a group of PKK fighters near the border with Iran.

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Date: February 2007
Location: Iraq
Distributor: Chanel 4 News (8 March 2007)
Credits: filmed and co-directed by Claudio von Planta

Presenter and Co-director – Karzan Sherabayani

This rather comical report captures a glimpse of the Kurdish alcohol smuggling operation into the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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Date: November 2006
Location: Congo Brazzaville, Sudan, El-Salvador, Philippines
Distributor: International Committee of the Red Cross
Credits: filmed, directed and produced by Claudio von Planta
2nd Cameraman and Reporter: Karzan Sherabayani
Interviewer: Juan Martinez – ICRC Staff Read more…

Date: October 2006
Location: Sierra Leone, Congo DRC, USA
Distributor: CNN International (2+3 March 2007) – 52 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

Presenter – Sorious Samura / Co-director, Executive Producer – Ron McCullagh Insight News TV
Producer – Elisabeth Jones / Editor – Richard Guard

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Date: August 2006
Location: Iraq
Distributor: Al-Jazeera International – 22 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

Producer and Reporter: Karzan Sherabayani

This is a 22 min. report on the police in Kirkuk at the frontline of Iraq’s growing civil war.

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Date: April 2006
Location: Nepal
Distributor: British Army Website
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

Co-Director/Cameraman: Simon Atkins
Website Architects: True Clarity

Winner of Campaign Digital Awards for Best Digital Campaign of 2006
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Date: February 2006
Location: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Distributor: Sky One (22 May 2006) – 46 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

Reporter and Producer – Sam Kiley / Co-Director and Producer - Jim Foster
Production Company – Carbon HQ

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Date: December 2005
Location: Malawi
Distributor: BBC News and Internet
Credits: directed, filmed and partly edited by Claudio von Planta

UNICEF and the BBC hired me to film an HIV/Aids fact finding tour in Malawi with actor and UNICEF ambassador Ewan McGregor. Read more…

Date: November 2005
Location: Afghanistan
Distributor: Sky One (15 May 2006) – 46 min.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta
Reporter and Producer – Sam Kiley / Co-Director and Producer - Jim Foster

Editor – Olivia Baldwin / Production Company – Carbon HQ

These are the first 12 minutes of a highly topical 46 min. documentary about the secretive world of private military companies. Read more…

Date: August 2005
Location: Jordan
Distributor: Sky (August 2005) – 46 min.
Credits: filmed by Claudio von Planta

Director: Marty Benson / Producer: Hugo MacGregor - Princess Productions

In this film I follow British actor Neil Morrissey and his partner Emma on a Bedouin camel trek along the historic footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia.

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Date: July 2005
Location: Pakistan
Distributor: Channel 4 Unreported World – 24 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

Reporter and Producer: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Production Company: Mentorn

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Date: April 2005
Location: Zambia
Distributor: Channel 4 UK Dispatches – 48 min.
Discovery Times, CNN International
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Producer: George Waldrum / Assistant: Nina Garthwaite / Editor: Richard Guard
Executive Producer: Ron McCullagh of Insight News Television

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Date: November 2004
Location: India
Distributor: Channel 4 Unreported World – 24 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

Reporter and Producer: Sam Kiley
Production Company: Mentorn

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Date: September 2004
Location: Sudan, Chad
Distributor: Channel 4 UK Dispatches – 48 min.
Discovery Times, CNN International
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Producer: George Waldrum / Director of Edit: Simon Atkins / Editor: Paul Dosaj
Executive Producer: Ron McCullagh of Insight News Television

2006 Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form

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Date: April 2004
Location: Europe, Russia, Kasachstan, Mongolia, Siberia, North Armerica
Distributor: National Geographic, world-wide – 10×45 min.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta (on 3rd motorbike)

Producers Directors: David Alexanian + Russ Malkin / Support Cameraman – Jimmy Simak
Editors: Julia Frater, Jake Roberts, Manus Fraser, Jon Harris

Winner of Broadcast Awards 2006 for Best Multi Channel Programme of the Year

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Date: August 2003
Location: Iraq
Distributor: ITV and MBC (17 May 04) – 52 min.
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta
Producer and Co-Director: Giles Trendle / Production Company: OR TV

This film offers an overview of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

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Date: August 1999
Location: Nagorny Karabakh, Azerbaijan
Distributor: Television Suisse Romande
Credits: filmed and directed by Claudio von Planta

This news report was designed to raise awareness about the fate of war widows in Nagorny Karabakh / Azerbaijan. I produced this film for Swiss TV in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

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Date: January 1999

Location: World
Distributor: ICRC + Military Academies world-wide
Credits: filmed, directed, produced and edited by Claudio von Planta

Script and Voice Over: Gwynne Roberts - RW Films
Client: International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC Read more…

Date: March 1998
Location: Northern Iraq
Distributor: CBS 60 Minutes, ABC Australia, ZDF Germany etc.
Credits: filmed by Claudio von Planta

Director and Reporter: Gwynne Roberts of RW Films / Producer: John Williams

1998 Special Commendation from the Rory Peck Award
1998 Royal Television Society Nomination for the best three foreign documentaries

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Date: November 1996
Location: Kuwait, Afghanistan
Distributor: Channel 4 Dispatches – 48 min.
Credits: filmed by Claudio von Planta

Director and Reporter: Gwynne Roberts of RW Films

This sequence shows the first ever televised interview with Osama Bin Ladin. It’s part of a 48 minute Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ investigation about the growing opposition movements in Saudi Arabia.

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Date: March 1996
Location: Iraq, Turkey, Ukraine, Slovakia, Germany, Holland, Britain
Distributor: BBC1 Inside Story & world-wide – 65 min.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Reporter: Karzan Sherabayani / Producer: Alex Moody / Editor: Malcom Daniels

This short clip is the beginning of a BBC1 investigation into the smuggling of illegal Kurdish immigrants from Iraq to Britain.
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Date: July 1996
Location: Britain, Caribbean Islands, Cuba
Distributor: HTV (UK) – 52 min.
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

2nd Cameraman and Co-Director: Scott Cooper / Sound: Renate Zeigerma

This documentary tells the story of six idealists building an ‘environmentally friendly’ cargo sailing boat with recycled scrap metal.

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Date: June 1990
Location: Indonesia, Irian-Jaya, West Papua
Distributor: Channel 4 UK & world-wide distribution.
Credits: directed and filmed by Claudio von Planta

Editor: Charles Frater / Executive Producer: Alan Hayling

This film offers the first ever insight into the West Papuan independence struggle against the Indonesian Army, which occupied the Western part of New Guinea in 1963.
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Date: August 1985
Location: Afghanistan
Distributor: ZDF (Germany), Antenne 2 (France)
Credits: directed, filmed and edited by Claudio von Planta

This clip of an Afghan Mujahedin getting blown up in a minefield epitomises the beginning of my documentary filmmaker career. It was the most frightening moment in my life.

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