Remembering Ofra Bikel

With great sadness we want to share the loss of Ofra Bikel, who died at her home in Tel Aviv on August 11 at the age of 94. Ofra was one of the most prolific and consequential producers in FRONTLINE’s history.

Over thirty years, her films covered topics around the world, raising questions about freedom and democracy, and then came back to the U.S., where she documented disturbing accusations of multiple cases of child sex abuse at a daycare center in a small town in North Carolina. The investigation, Innocence Lost, would become a trilogy of films over the course of six years. Her reporting highlighted improprieties in the case and all seven defendants would eventually be freed. That case sent Ofra on a dedicated investigation into the justice system, examining issues of fairness and due process, miscarriage of justice, unfair plea bargains and false confessions. At least six more people were exonerated as a direct result of her films.

She won many awards, but best of all, her work was valued and admired by her colleagues. Her contribution to FRONTLINE fulfilled the promise of the series and of public television by bringing together powerful, lasting journalism and profound filmmaking.

We want to share with you a FRONTLINE bio with more details of her remarkable career, and her recent obituaries in The Washington Post and The New York Times.  In addition, we invite you to watch a 7-minute video tribute, which I narrated when Ofra was awarded the prestigious John Chancellor Award at Columbia University in 2007.

With thanks,

David Fanning

Founder and Executive Producer (1983-2015)