James Brabazon

James Brabazon is an award winning frontline journalist, documentary filmmaker and the author of My Friend the Mercenary (Canongate). Based in London, he has reported in over 60 countries investigating, filming and directing in the world's most hostile environments.

His writes regularly for the Observer, and his work has recently appeared in the Sunday Times, the Guardian Weekend Magazine, The Independent, the Scotsman Magazine and Harper Collins' The World's Most Dangerous Places.

He first gained international profile as the only journalist to film the Liberian LURD rebel group fighting to overthrow President Charles Taylor. He spent six months travelling with the rebels on the multiple award-winning documentary projects Liberia: A Journey Without Maps (BBC2, SABC, CNN) and Liberia: An Uncivil War (Discovery) for which he earned two EMMY nominations.

He has worked on independent commissions with Discovery; BBC2 (for whom he made the current affairs series The Violent Coast in West Africa winning him BAFTA and Grierson nominations); and Channel 4, where he has made fourteen films in the critically acclaimed Unreported World series.

James's work has often involved filming close-quarter combat, for which he was awarded the IDA Courage Under Fire Award 2004 and the Rory Peck Trust Sony International Impact Award 2003. His work in Liberia won many international accolades including the Rory Peck Trust Freelancer's Choice Award 2003; the Joris Ivens Competition Special Jury Award IDFA 2004 and two EMMY nominations.