The World at a Crossroads Award - 2023 Hinzpeter Awards
['The World at a Crossroads' Award]
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Gesbeen Mohammad, Aleksandra Odynova, Vasily Kolotilov
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"Inside Russia: Putin’s War at Home"
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After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the documentary Inside Russia: Putin’s War at Home was selected as the winner of The World at a Crossroads Award. This work contains stories that include criticism of the Vladimir Putin regime, opposition movements to the war on Ukraine, calls for the transparent disclosure of information related to the conflict, and demand for freedom of the press and expression. The reporting team documented conversations with people in Russia before the war until its outbreak and up until Putin gave his mobilization order.
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Amid the war, people in Russia face prison sentences for making contact with foreign media. As of March 4, 2022, a law signed by Putin known as the “fake news” law criminalized dissemination of "blatantly false" information about Russian military operations, with the penalty a maximum of three years in prison. If the spread of false information is judged to have serious consequences for the country, the sentence could be up to 15 years. Russian authorities have weaponized this law to violently suppress, arrest, detain, and torture those who oppose the war, criticize Putin's mobilization of the populace, or demand information on wartime casualties, branding them as "extremists against patriotism."
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Considering these circumstances, the investigative team assumed the risks and sought individuals in Russia resisting threats to democracy, human rights, and peace, capturing their voices on video to share with the world. The judging panel praised this report for vividly documenting and exposing the untold stories within Russia that were hidden due to the ban on foreign correspondents from reporting or withdrawing from the area. The jury also recognized that the dedication and journalistic spirit of the four video journalists, who like their sources took on the risk of arrest and
Award for News - 2023 Hinzpeter Awards
[Award for News]
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Ben C. Solomon, Adam Desiderio, Julia Kochetova
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"The Battle of Bakhmut"
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Situated in southeastern Ukraine, Bakhmut in August 2022 was the most dangerous battleground of the war in Ukraine. The reporters including Ben C. Solomon stayed in the city for two weeks amid continuous Russian artillery and air strikes, documenting the harrowing realities of war through the experiences of Ukrainian soldiers and remaining civilians.
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The report shows the activities of Ukraine's International Legion, people seeking refuge in underground bunkers, firefighters defending the city with scarce resources, a 8-year-old girl left in the city, and Russia's merciless assaults on educational institutions and medical facilities. This pivotal documentation exposed the falsehoods of a war that professes to champion peace and humanitarian values while perpetrating atrocities.
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The judging panel lauded the report for its comprehensive portrayal of the war's impact on civilian life, highlighting the resilience and hope of the Ukrainian people. They gave it high marks for its empathetic storytelling that upholds a viewer's right to be informed, filming techniques that vividly depict war's grim realities, objective reporting underscored by sharp questions and analysis, and challenges faced by the reporters who navigated artillery and air strikes while interviewing Bakhmut residents. The jury said such fearless coverage is reminiscent of the ethos of Hinzpeter, who covered Gwangju in May 1980 despite the perils of martial law and suppression.
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[뉴스 부문 수상자]
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벤 C. 솔로몬, 아담 데지데리오, 줄리아 코체토바
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"바흐무트 전투"
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우크라이나 동남부에 위치한 바흐무트는 2022년 8월 가장 위험한 전쟁터가 되었다. 벤자민 솔로몬 등 세 기자는 러시아의 포격과 공습이 끊이지 않는 도시에 2주 동안 머물며 우크라이나 군인과 남은 시민들의 삶을 통해 전
Award for Features - 2023 Hinzpeter Awards
[Award for Features]
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Carol Valade, Clément Di Roma (France)
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"Russian Soft Power in the CAR"
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In 2018, several reporters were tragically killed while investigating the Russian private military company Wagner Group in the Central African Republic (CAR). Picking up where their colleagues left off, French freelance video journalists Carol Valade and Clément Di Roma took on this daunting challenge and released Russian Soft Power in The CAR. Their August 2022 report scrutinized the violence and abuse perpetrated by Wagner within the country.
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Despite gaining independence from France in 1960, the CAR has suffered from civil unrest since 2012. With the second-lowest score in the United Nations Development Index, this country is where Wagner's actions are conspicuous. Braving significant risks, the two journalists delivered in-depth, on-the-ground coverage to spotlight Russia and its proxy Wagner, whose escalating influence both politically and socially within the CAR stood out. The report incisively captures the group's strategy of using cultural and psychological tactics to hasten the Russification of CAR society.
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In 2021, the UN Security Council received disturbing field reports indicating that Wagner led battles against rebels and committed heinous acts such as civilian killings, rape, instant executions, and torture. Valade and Di Roma adeptly conveyed the complex emotions of CAR citizens facing these harsh realities.
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Their coverage also criticized Russia's exploitation of the group to tap the CAR's abundant subterranean resources, further exacerbating tensions rooted in the African country's colonial past, religious discord, and tribal disputes. The report also cast a discerning eye on France's enduring imperialistic tendencies, emphasizing its strategy of evading political responsibility in the CAR while keenly coveting its economic riches, leaving the latter entrenched in its conflicted state.
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“This report sharply illustrates how global
May Gwangju Award - 2023 Hinzpeter Awards
[MAY GWANGJU Award]
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Volodymyr Shevchenko, Yuriy Bordakov, Viktor Kripchenko, Volodymyr Taranchenko
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In 1986, four Central TV of Ukraine journalists—Volodymyr Shevchenko, Yuriy Bordakov, Viktor Kripchenko, and Volodymyr Taranchenko—braved the hazards of radiation to chronicle the Chernobyl disaster. Their determination to capture the truth of this catastrophe earned them the prestigious May Gwangju Award, a lifetime achievement honor in a non-competitive category. The judges said their brave endeavors reflected the award's core mission to “shed light on the truth by remembering and honoring.”
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These dedicated journalists bore witness to the devastating explosion of Reactor 4 at the plant and diligently covered its aftermath over four arduous months, starting from the night the disaster unfurled on April 26, 1986, at 1:23 a.m.
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In response to the worst nuclear catastrophe in recorded human history, an estimated 600,000 firefighters, soldiers, and civilians were mobilized over a four-month period. Known as the Battle of Chernobyl, this massive cleanup was carried out with little to no guidance on radiation safety or appropriate protective gear. Amid this backdrop, the journalists, with only their integrity and cameras as shields, documented the harrowing events that followed. They paid dearly with their health as Shevchenko was diagnosed with lung cancer from radiation exposure and his colleagues also suffered from prolonged ailments from the same cause.
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Despite agonizing fever caused by his lung cancer, Shevchenko felt a deep sense of duty to inform the world about the truth of Chernobyl. He edited the footage into the documentary Chernobyl - Chronicle of Difficult Weeks, which was completed in November 1986. Soviet authorities demanded 94 revisions of his work and banned its general screening, but he fought to expose the truth that he and his colleagues documented. Eventually, the documentary began limited screenings in Ukraine in early March
[ENG] Hinzpeter Awards 공모 독려 영상 - 브루노 페데리코
[Award for News]
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Takuya Watanabe
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"Afghanistan, Now"
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Takuya Watanabe joined TBS Japan in 2016 as a video journalist and has been working as a correspondent in the London office since 2021. In August 2021, he and his team interviewed Taliban spokesperson Muhammad Suhail Shaheen in person, for the first time in Japanese media, just before the U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan. Three months later, in November, he visited Kabul, the capital city, where the Taliban had begun to rule again, and Bamiyan, where the world’s largest stone Buddha was destroyed during the Taliban’s rule 20 years ago. He captured the condition of the Afghan people, living in poverty and amid food shortages.
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The jury members found that Watanabe’s work was valuable to viewers, who could not access in-depth coverage of the changes in Afghanistan and the international community’s questions about the Taliban in a chaotic situation as U.S. troops withdrew and the Taliban regained power. In particular, the jury found that Watanabe had provided information to predict the changes in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of U.S. troops through an interview with the Taliban spokesperson. He reported on how Afghan society and people’s lives have changed since the Taliban came to power. His reporting has aroused humanitarian interest from the international community, particularly by covering the miserable livelihood of the country’s citizens, with as many as one million people expected to die from starvation due to food shortages.
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The jury members mentioned that the journalist took personal risks despite the unstable political situation in Afghanistan and applauded the courage of Watanabe’s team. Their coverage of the issue of political freedom for Afghan citizens and of cultural heritage in the Bamiyan region displayed great effort to realize democracy, human rights, and peace. Thus, Takuya Watanabe was selected to receive this year’s Award for News, the jury added.
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The Spider-Man of Sudan
['The World at a Crossroads' Award]
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Philip Cox
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"The Spider-Man of Sudan"
Philip Cox, winner of the grand prize, The World at a Crossroads Award, is a British freelance video journalist who was working in Khartoum, the capital of the Republic of the Sudan, in October 2021 when a military coup took place. The citizens of Sudan ousted Omar al-Bashir, a dictator for 30 years, in a revolution in April 2019. While civilians and the military were preparing for the establishment of democratic rule by forming a joint transitional government, a military coup occurred. Sudan’s citizens protested against it and began to hold large-scale demonstrations demanding the return of democratic and civilian rule.
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One day, as the military crackdown intensified to quell civil resistance across the country, an anonymous demonstrator dressed as Spiderman appeared in the center of the protests. He became famous on social media for jumping off billboards, dodging tear gas, and climbing buildings, becoming a symbol of civil resistance.
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Jury members found that Cox showed the aspiration and will of Sudanese citizens to restore democracy and create a better country through the story of the Spider-Man, who resists the military coup. In addition, the jury found that the video showing the dangers of the protests was vivid, while the visual aesthetics through various devices drew the story impressively. The creative storytelling had a significant quality, the jury stated.
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[기로에 선 세계상]
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필립 콕스
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"수단의 스파이더맨"
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대상인 ‘기로에 선 세계상’ 수상자 필립 콕스(PHILIP COX)는 영국의 프리랜서 영상기자로 2021년 10월 아프리카의 수단(Republic of the Sudan)에서 군사쿠데타가 발생할 당시, 수도 하르툼(Khartoum)에서 근무하고 있었다. 수단시민들은 2019년 4월 시민혁명을 통해, ‘30년 독재자’ 오마르 알바시르를 축출시켰다. 민간과 군이 공동과도정
On the 18th of May, 1980 , despite South Korean military’s violent
suppression of the Gwangju Democratization Movement,
Jürgen Hinzpeter infiltrated the city and recorded scenes of a massacre.
His footage brought the attention of the world to the devastation in Gwangju and had a lasting impact on the movement for democracy in South Korea.
There are now movements across the world to protect democracy and, like Hinzpeter, many video journalists are trying to capture the truth.
The Hinzpeter Awards are jointly organized by the May 18 Memorial Foundation and the Korea Video Journalist Association.
The Awards have been established to discover, and bring attention to, video journalists like Hinzpeter who demonstrate extraordinary journalistic spirit in their coverage of democratic movements around the world.
The Hinzpeter Awards aspire to recognize and honor video journalists who seek the truth, protect human rights and fight for justice as recorders of reality and chroniclers of history.
Website : http://www.hinzpeterawards.com
YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo1fTGM4GI76Bbmf0qzkT4Q
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