Risk-Taking Freelancers Recognised

The Rory Peck Awards have honoured the work of freelance cameramen and camerawomen in news and current affairs at an event hosted by Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford and Channel 4 News' International Editor Lindsey Hilsum.

Taking place 19 November and attended by international journalists and editors at London's BFI Southbank, the event showcased the best of freelancers' work and their importance to the international newsgathering community.

The Rory Peck Award for News was presented to 23-year-old freelancer Pacôme Pabandji from Central African Republic for CAR: Descent Into Chaos, broadcast by AFPTV. The judges praised Pacôme's ability "to cast a dispassionate eye on a heated and dangerous conflict whilst living in its midst," with one judge commenting that "the conviction he must have to keep going – to keep telling the story of his country – is admirable."

The Rory Peck Award for Features was won by Team Mindeulle – a group of six anonymous North Korean cameramen – for North Korea: Life Inside the Secret State. The programme was produced by Hard Cash Productions and broadcast by Channel 4 Dispatches and PBS Frontline.

The team was trained during trips to China by the Japanese journalist Jiro Ishimaru. The film provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the world's most secretive state.

The film also hints towards signs of cracks in the regime's control with ordinary people standing up to authority: one woman challenging an official trying to stop her running a bus service, and another arguing about her right to wear trousers.

The Sony Impact Award was presented to British freelancer Ben Steele for Hunted, produced by Blakeway Productions for Channel 4 Dispatches. The film explores the world of Russian vigilante gangs who go on hunting 'safaris' to catch, humiliate and abuse gay victims.

This year's Martin Adler Prize, sponsored by Hexagon, was awarded to Palestinian freelance journalist, fixer and translator Khaled Abu Ghali. The prize, now in its sixth year, honours a local freelancer who has made a significant contribution to newsgathering. Khaled has covered many of Gaza's most intense periods of conflict in his 14 year career, most notably in 2006, 2009, 2012, and Summer 2014 and has worked with, and contributed to, many of the world's most prominent news outlets.

"This year's Rory Peck Awards finalists and winners have produced work of the highest quality at a time when freelancers are being targeted and silenced more than ever – a testament to their sheer determination, skill and desire to bear witness and uncover otherwise untold stories," said Tina Carr, Director of the Rory Peck Trust. "Without their work, our understanding of the world we live in would surely suffer and for that they deserve our protection, recognition and support."

"It's a privilege to stand alongside this talented community who, reporting with compassion and integrity, fight against incredible odds to tell stories that simply can't be ignored," said Olivier Bovis, Head of Marketing AV Media and Solutions, Sony Professional Solutions, Sony Europe.

"At Sony, we strive to provide the tools which help in achieving this goal, and though the contribution we make is small in comparison, we are incredibly proud to do it. Once more we return to honour the impact freelancers and their work continues to make, and to support the important work of the Rory Peck Trust."

www.pro.sony.eu

(IT/JP)