From West Bank to South Bank...

“I'm in the Suez Canal…!” shouted Talal Aburahma “I will be arriving in London in about eighteen hours maybe!”

Sometimes our finalists will go to any lengths to attend The Rory Peck Awards Ceremony. Talal managed it, and became the first ever winner of the Sony International Impact Award. Our congratulations to him, and to all the others who travelled to be with us on October 18th. From assignment in New York came Hedley Trigge who scooped the Hard News Award and from Gaza came Hard News finalists Hazem Jamil Bader and Khaled Zighari. Features finalist Javier Bauluz arrived from Spain, and from Washington, where she is in political asylum, came Chechnyan camerawoman Raisa Talkhanova, winner of the Freelancers’ Choice Award.

Since it began, with Sony’s support, in 1995, the Rory Peck Awards has always been an occasion for celebration, recognition and remembrance. Celebrated are the skills and courage of freelancers, recognised is the vital and influential role they play in worldwide newsgathering. Every year we remember those who have been killed in the process. As Raisa Talkhanova watched our list of names unfold, she recognised those of colleagues in her native Chechnya. The following day, she hit the Internet and told their families that in London, the previous night, the person they had lost had been named and honoured.

In the last few difficult months, Awards producer, Sarah Ward-Lilley has succeeded in putting together a truly significant and moving event. The feedback we received was warm, with many commenting that it had been true to the spirit of the very first Rory Peck Award ceremony. Much praise went to Allan Little, who bravely stepped in as host at a very late stage. (I say ‘bravely’ because he later admitted how nervous he had been. Well, Allan - no need to worry.) Many thanks to Sarah and her team especially Nick Davies, Bill Parkinson, and the support from GlobeCast Newsforce. Everyone seemed to enjoy our new venue, and we enjoyed working with Stuart Brown and his team at the National Film Theatre, and also with Donna Hatchett (Sony) and Chris Preston (DPA) who helped us enormously. Most of all we are grateful to those came along and supported us on October 18th.

By the way - where were all the freelancers that night? Out there of course, where the action is, lying low, checking their equipment, on the alert, and doing what they’ve always done - getting the pictures that tell the story. At a time like this, the newsgathering industry relies heavily on its free-lancers, both in print and broadcast. Sony’s renewed support has come at a significant moment - the work of the Trust has never been more relevant. We have always claimed that the Rory Peck Awards are unique. They are. There is no other event in the world that honours freelancers in this way, there is no other organisation that exists purely to support them and their families. Many have known this for the last seven years. For most of this year’s finalists, it was a revelation.

Tina Carr
Director
The Rory Peck Trust

Issue 10
November 2001

• From Sony
• From West Bank to South Bank...
• Pictures from The Rory Peck Awards 2001
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