Winner of the 1998 Rory Peck Award

Miguel Gil, "Kosovo", June/July 1998

Fate took a hand in getting some of the footage shot by Miguel Gil this summer out from the battle zones to the feed point. The footage he had of the Kosovo Liberation Army taking on the Serbian forces in three separate towns was highly controversial but somehow he had to get the tapes through the Serb checkpoint. Serb policemen know exactly how to view a digital tape using the camera. But this time Miguel was lucky. The tape he had hidden in his coat was found and viewed - but miraculously it came up blank.

Miguel’s film shows the Albanians resisting the Serb forces at close quarters for the first time. The Albanian fighters are very wary of letting themselves be filmed because they know if the Serbs recognise individuals they will be arrested and jailed.

Miguel used to be a lawyer but after a holiday in Bosnia in 1993 where he met many journalists, he quit and went to Sarajevo. Miguel says: “If you asked me what I would do if I was a millionaire I would do this.” He thinks for a second. “But I would get some better kit.”

Photo: Kurdistan, by Burham Ozbilici, APTN

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