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Film tribute to 7/7 victims by man who lost his best friend
Katie Whelan2 Jul 2008
Victims of the 7/7 bombings will be honoured in a documentary by a first-time filmmaker whose best friend was killed in the tragedy.
Raj Babbra, 31, had never used a camcorder before starting the project three months ago, in tribute to his exgirlfriend Benedetta Ciaccia, 30.
The Italian au pair, who had been engaged to sales adviser Fiaz Bhatti, was killed in the Aldgate bombing three years ago while travelling to work.
Mr Babbra, from south London, decided to make the film - which will premiere on 7 July - to raise money for those who survived the attacks and tell the story of those who did not.
"All the victims from 7/7, or any other tragedy like this, have their lives summarised down, their whole story isn't told and people don't understand from that what it's like to lose someone," he said.
"The general public's lives just carried on very quickly, but people in the 7/7 community were left behind. I wanted to show what it was like to have that person in your life, what they were like growing up and then all of a sudden what it's like for them to be missing.
"This shows her from birth to death. It films her family and friends and shows what people in the community feel. People don't understand as they think it happens to someone else, I want to show them the someone else is just like them."
The film, 7/7 - Life Without Benedetta, also includes interviews with survivors and rescue workers as well as tributes to other victims from their family and friends. A special private screening will be held for them.
The documentary will be made into a DVD and be shown at film festivals to raise money for survivors, who Mr Babbra thinks have been badly treated by the Government.
"I will set up a charity in Benedetta's name and that will give money to people in the 7/7 community," he said.
"We don't want to give lump sums but want it be a long-term fund giving donations to, for example, help one of the victims' children through university. This will fit the needs of the community which aren't being met. The survivors' compensation is horrendous."
Mr Babbra said of his film: "The scale of the project is huge to have it completed in three months, but we did. I hired a professional film crew and we travelled to Italy where she grew up.
"It has been difficult for me. I was having to go to these places in my mind which I'd locked away. Difficult questions started. Did she suffer-Did she have to live through it?
"I think she would have been proud of the film. I've had good feedback from her family and friends and people in the 7/7 community. I have no feelings for the men who did it.
"I think they are weak-minded people who did this to innocent people."
Honour for activist killed in bus blast
A human rights campaigner killed in the 7/7 bombings is to be honoured with a permanent memorial.
Giles Hart, 55, was a prominent British supporter of the Solidarity movement in Poland throughout the Eighties, as well as an active member of Amnesty International and the Anti-Slavery Society.
The BT engineer was killed by the bomb on the No30 bus in Tavistock Square. Three years on, the London-based Polish Solidarity Campaign, of which he was chairman, will unveil a plaque commemorating his life. Made from Polish granite, the memorial will be unveiled in Ravenscourt Park on Saturday.
Mr Hart, of Hornchurch, Essex, was born in Khartoum. He was described as "a champion of liberty" by his Polish wife Danuta. The couple had a daughter, Maryla, and son, Martin.
Survivors of Tube attacks 'did not panic and helped each other'
Survivors of the 7/7 London terror attacks did not panic when the bombs went off and were more resilient than expected, doctors will hear today.
Psychiatrists who studied the reactions of victims stuck underground after the bombings said crowds of injured people put themselves at risk to help each other rather than running away.
The findings will be revealed by mental health professor Richard Williams at the Royal College of Psychiatrists' annual meeting.
He said: "Psychiatrists have found that on 7/7 there was no panic to speak of. People presume crowds will panic in the face of a disaster but they don't.
"There was evidence of collective resilience on the Underground after the Tube was bombed. People got out of trains to help those in other carriages.
"Panic is associated with people behaving irrationally and selfishly, but this didn't happen." The speech comes as another leading psychiatrist said giving counselling to all victims of major tragedies could be dangerous.
Simon Wessely, professor of psychological medicine at King's College London, said giving workers time off after a terrorist attack may also be damaging.
He said: "For some people not talking is the most appropriate response."
He added that evidence from the blitz and the London bombings shows people are far more resilient than previously thought, and support from friends and family could be more important than counselling.
