A. Rockett CNN interview transcript
    Aired November 28, 2008 - 20:30:00 ET

Beginning of Show:

PAULA NEWTON, HOST: Hello, I'm Paula Newton in London. Welcome to CNN's INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS, your weekly look at how the media cover the news.

Coming up, using local knowledge, we speak to the director behind the film that looks at life as a news fixer.

Interview with Aaron Rockett

NEWTON: And welcome back. You know, their work usually goes unnoticed on air or in print, but their contribution to stories especially in hostile environments or environments that are unfamiliar to reporters, well, that's priceless.

Fixers, as they're known, are typically journalists themselves with local knowledge and connections that help the rest of us out in the field. A new documentary sheds light on their role. "The Fixer: Afghanistan Behind the Scenes" is the work of Aaron Rockett. He followed freelance journalist Sean Legan and his fixer, known as Sammy, over the course of three and a half months. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sean has worked with Sammy since the `90s.

SAMMY: We are cooperating journalists, you know, media guys. So Sean is one of these. So - and I'm going to help him. I mean, for consultation, fixing, coordination, and all these things. So that's why I'm here.

SEAN: I work with Sammy or Samuella (ph) in '99 and 2000. He brought me and another guy called Kamal Heidhan (ph). I got kicked out once. And I don't think I'd have got back in without him and Kamal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sammy helped Sean produce two documentaries, "Taliban" and "Tea with the Taliban."

SEAN: Fixers normally, one definition is they arrange an interview. They arrange your hotel. They book flights. It's like a production manager's job. And a lot of people here, contractors, security, journalists, will have basic fixers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And that was a scene from "The Fixer: Afghanistan Behind the Scenes," directed by Aaron Rockett. He joins me now in studio.

Thanks so much for being here. You know, from what we just saw, he explains something that seemed fairly routine and mundane. Really, their jobs are anything but routine?

AARON ROCKETT, DIRECTOR: Yes, you know, I went to Afghanistan and I went in there, you know, as an outsider. And I realized how important it is to have a local on the ground. And not only just for translation, but you don't realize all the ethnic, the different ethnic make-ups of a culture like Afghanistan. It has, you know, Pashtuns, Tadzhiks, Hazarras (ph).

And so, you need somebody to help you navigate the different elements, not only driving through the country and roadblocks, but also within the bureaucracy of it all.

NEWTON: You do have to watch though for their own biases, don't you, because they are locals. They have their own biases on any given story?

ROCKETT: Yes. Well, like I mentioned, Afghanistan has many tribal groups, you know. Hazarras (ph), Pashtuns. And so, depending on what ethnicity your fixer is, he's going to have his biases. And within Afghanistan, it's - there's even a gender bias. So most all fixers are males. So for example, Sean is working on a film about a woman's driving school. So when Sammy's translating from the interviews, women, Sean needs to take into account that Sammy has his own biases. So not everything Sammy is telling him is going to be, you know, exactly the way the woman is saying it. So it's really important for a journalist to understand where his fixer's coming from.

NEWTON: How invaluable is their work, especially in danger zones and hot spots?

ROCKETT: It's completely - depending on the area, your fixer is invaluable to you. Because your fixer basically is your life line. He not only knows the area, but he knows the important people. You know, the higher - so if you're traveling in the middle of rural Afghanistan, it's very important to know the top mullahs, the top commanders, the top people within each village. And the more effective your fixer is, the more he's able to introduce you to the most powerful person in the region, who will then take care of you. So your safety and often your life depends on your fixer and how important he is.

NEWTON: This is dangerous work. We're going to have another look at a clip from Aaron Rockett's film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SAMMY: I like my job. I love my job. And even my family, I mean, they are not so happy, I mean, because you know journalism is not easy job, especially after 9/11 September, it was a very hard job. I mean, to cover all this risky story. ROCKETT: Sammy walks a fine line between his culture and the Western journalists he works with. At the same time, he must keep them separate like with his wife and children, but also bring the two cultures together.

Ready to go, Sammy?

SAMMY: Yeah, you are ready?

ROCKETT: Yeah, let's go. All right.

I also walk a fine line in filming. Not only drawing attention, they compromise my safety, but also Sammy's.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You think it's time to do away with the name, The Fixer? Do you think somehow it's degrading their role in the whole process?

ROCKETT: You know, it's a great point. And I think that there are many people that believe that. And Sammy himself doesn't like the word `fixer' because he's a journalist. He works for many journalistic organizations. He's setting up stories. And it's because of his contacts that we get the stories that we do. And for all the fixers, I mean, it's really their contacts. And for journalists, you know, often your story comes down to your contacts.

So yes, to a certain degree, I think fixer should be in many cases dissolved for some of these guys.

NEWTON: Mm-hmm. Aaron Rockett, the director of "The Fixer", thanks so much for joining us.

ROCKETT: Thanks for having me, Paula.