Each year there are many industry events, and some can leave a particularly strong impression. For me, one such event was the annual Rory Peck Awards, which are supported by Sony.
Rory Peck was a freelance cameraman who was killed in 1993 while covering a story in Russia. When this occurred, there was no system in place concerning what to do if a freelancer gets killed or how to support those left behind. In ’95, Peck’s widow and close friends set up an organization to provide assistance to these families.
The Rory Peck Trust was established for the welfare and safety of freelance news gatherers around the world. It promotes good practice, subsidizes safety training and provides financial support to freelancers in need and to the families of those who are killed, seriously injured, imprisoned or suffer persecution as a result of their work. The Rory Peck Awards, the major fund-raiser for the trust, is an international competition that highlights the achievement of freelance cameramen and women in television news gathering.
Sony has helped The Rory Peck Awards become a unique news industry event by sponsoring the first three years of the awards. Since ’01, Sony has remained the primary corporate sponsor of The Rory Peck Awards and sole sponsor of the awards ceremony, which was recently held at the National Film Theater in London.
This year, the Rory Peck Award for hard news was bestowed on Zakaria Abu Harbid, for “Gaza Beach,” which followed a devastated 12-year-old girl after an explosion that killed her father, her stepmother as well as five siblings. First, she is seen running along the beach and then weeping beside her father’s body.
The feature competition recognized Dirk Nel for Killer’s Paradise, a film that attempts to uncover the escalation of violence against women in Guatemala.
The film combined graphic footage of crime scenes and interviews with victims’ families and friends.
Ali Fadhil was the recipient of the Sony Impact Award–which honors footage providing humanitarian imagery that has had an impact internationally and contributed to a change in perception or policy.
Fadhil’s entry, titled “Iraq’s Missing Billions,” aimed to provide evidence of the failure of the U.S.-led reconstruction program in Iraq.
According to the program description, “Billions of dollars were spent but his hospital footage shows operating theaters flooded with sewage and the tragic consequences of a lack of the most basic medical equipment.
While making this film, the filmmaker’s home in Baghdad was raided by U.S. troops in the middle of the night and he was arrested.”
Other finalists included Mehran Bozorgnia’s entry “Lawlessness in Afghanistan.” In the featured clip, Borzorgnia was lensing a burning school in Afghanistan–and continued to shoot–when his news team was suddenly confronted by an angry and armed group of Taliban fighters.
Another finalist was “Brothers of Kabul” from Stephen Dupont and Jacques Menasche. In this feature, the camera follows the lives of two brothers from a drug-addicted population in Kabul’s Old City and shows their efforts to get clean.
In advertising, we often analyze brilliant imagery. The Rory Peck Awards were an emotional reminder of the power of images.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More