THE RORY PECK AWARDS 2002
Sponsored by Sony

Elizabeth C. Jones  
Finalist: The Rory Peck Award for Features

Canadian
"Somalia: The Last Haven"
Shot: Somalia, Nov - Dec. 2001
Mentorn for Channel 4 Television

It was just after the fall of Kabul. Somalia was top of America's list of countries suspected of harbouring terrorists - an attack seemed imminent. After a serious
kidnapping incident in Mogadishu, the UN decided to pull out of Somalia, followed soon after by all the western NGO's. By the time reporter, Juliana Ruhfus, and Elizabeth Jones arrived, it was clear there would
be no other Westerners operating on the ground to help them with advice and security. The only strong advice they did receive was to stay no longer than five days otherwise their chances of being kidnapped would
increase dramatically as people became aware of their movements.

Flying in on a plane ferrying Qat (a local narcotic) in from Kenya, they arranged their security as best they could through a local fixer, Mogadishu was extremely tense and rife with inter-clan violence. As they arrived, one of their hired bodyguards shot a man from a rival clan. The rival clan then threatened an outright feud and Juliana and Elizabeth were forced to stay in their hotel for several days for fear of attack.

"The real danger was that the shoot took place at the time the American government had named the Al-Barakaat bank (based in Somalia) as part of the international network associated with Al-Qaida. We were able to speak to the members of this organisation, but this obviously alerted them to our presence which put us at risk for the duration of our stay. Even ordinary Somalis were feeling very sensitive about the American accusations. On one occasion, while we were filming a boat named The Osama Bin Laden, local Somalis became enraged and begun hurling anti-American slogans and abuse at us. We managed to get to our car in time and escape."

Judges Comments
"Spectacular. The framing of the shots is totally magnificent."
"Inventive filming, a lot of thought."
"It shows great initiative. A very resourceful piece."
"You're struck by the utter devastation and the effects of war.
You really felt you had a portrait of what was going on at that
moment. Beautifully shot."  

Biography
Twice-nominated as a finalist for the Rory Peck Awards, in 1995 for her feature for BBC Newsnight in the wake of the Rwandan genocide, and in 1999 for Congo - A Road to Nowhere, Elizabeth C. Jones became a freelance producer, reporter and cameraperson for the BBC and CBC in 1991. Since then, based between London and Africa, she has worked for all the major broadcasters. Over the last year she has reported from India, Israel, Somalia, Afghanistan and Congo.