The story of the fall of Gaddafi as told by the insiders, defectors and military advisers who helped bring it about.

It's the end of a dictatorship, the end of 42 years of eccentric one-man rule.

In 1969, Muammar Gaddafi overthrew a monarchy. In 2011, he joined a group of dicators swept away by people power. But how did this revolutionary - once courted by global leaders - fall so dramatically?

State of Denial is the story of the fall of the Gaddafi regime as told by the insiders, defectors and military advisors who helped to bring it about.

Written and directed by Anne Reevell of Moonbeam Films, the film offers a revealing behind-the-scenes account of a revolution, a slice of history in which people took back power.

"The disintegration of the Gaddafi regime in Libya surprised and confused the world - not because it happened in the first place, but because Gaddafi's government remained convinced it could prevail - despite defections, NATO airstrikes and a popular mass uprising," says Reevell.

As the rebels continue to advance towards Tripoli, the Libyan authorities there are in a state of denial, convinced they can still talk to the British government, denouncing the foreign media, burning the homes of Libyan exiles and organising anti-NATO demonstrations in London.

The message they relay says there is "no compromise on leadership", but do they mean it or are hairline fractures beginning to emerge?

Using the oral diary of a Tripoli-based insider, as well as interviews with the UK prime minister's senior adviser on Libya and leading figures in Benghazi and Tripoli, State of Denial explores the demise of Gaddafi's powerbase and charts the twists and turns of a regime in denial.

Editor's note: This film was first broadcast in December 2011.

Source: Al Jazeera