Whether he’s documenting the failure of neo-liberalism in Mongolia, experiencing life in Canada’s federal prison system, or, as in the case of his latest Rockie-nominated episode, sneaking a camera past Turkish soldiers into Kurdistan, Jean-François Lepine declares, ‘I have a great job. I’m very lucky.’

The journalist and seasoned host of the Zone Libre series says, ‘I’m always interested in talking about people who are being roughed up, exploited or discriminated against. If you go after these kinds of stories, which fascinate me, you take some risks.’

And he knows about risks. Before the Radio-Canada-produced doc strand first aired in September 1998, Lepine had already reported from many of the world’s political hot spots and had even been shot while covering events in the Middle East.

When Zone Libre: L’Insoutenable condition des Kurdes (also titled La Bataille des Kurdes a Zone Libre) aired in September of 1999, as with all episodes, it had a worldwide audience. In addition to its Canadian broadcast, the program also airs weekly on the French international channel TV5 (viewed in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world).

The Turkish government was watching with particular interest what some consider the best reporting Lepine has ever done. In response to the doc, which looks at the struggle of the Kurdish people through the eyes of a 15-year-old girl in London who is passionate enough about the cause to set herself ablaze, Zone Libre and TV5 each received a letter from the Turkish ambassador in Paris.

‘The letter said no wonder this angle was taken in the story because it was done by French-Canadians who are known as being separatists and they are encouraging the cause of the Kurds,’ says Lepine. ‘I wrote back saying that I’m happy to find out that you don’t challenge any of the facts. He never talked about the content of the piece – he talked about our presumed intentions in doing it.’

With Lepine doing double duty as host and journalist on this episode, he decided that using the girl in London as the centre of the piece would get viewers involved in the Kurdish question. ‘I was really impressed when I saw her and how involved and passionate she is [about the cause]. The other thing that is peculiar about this piece for a journalist is that we were able to go to the Kurdish part of Turkey to meet her uncle and her family. It is very rare for journalists to go there,’ recounts Lepine. ‘We had a lot of problems getting in, but we got permission and we were very honest with them. In fact, when you’re there they tolerate a lot. We even managed to see lawyers of political detainees who normally have trouble talking to Turkish journalists.’

Lepine and crew also took a plane to a small city in Turkish Kurdistan, where Turkish soldiers stood on guard at the airport. ‘We just put the camera under a coat [to get through the airport]. We managed to stay in this area for three days without being noticed by the police and the army, until they finally arrested us.’

Filming came to an end once the film crew had been herded by armed soldiers into a surrounded hotel and, eventually, put on a plane.

But Lepine is nonchalant. ‘When we try to describe a difficult situation [like the Kurds in Turkey] you get into trouble sometimes.’

www.radio-canada.ca