Finalists, The Rory Peck Award for Features 2012
for                                            
Holding the Line
Shot in Libya, June-July, 2011
Part self-funded.
Broadcast by Aljazeera English, Witness

Patrick was in Misrata documenting the effect of the siege on children for UNICEF. He stayed on after that assignment, joining a group of rebel fighters to produce this film about ordinary citizens at war.

BACKGROUND
Patrick lived with the rebels and followed them for three weeks, focusing on two main characters: Abubaker Maiteig, a teacher whose uncles were murdered by the Qaddafi regime; and Feras Asheni, a medical student. The film provides a clear portrait of the disconnect between their preconceptions about conflict and the reality of fighting and killing for the first time.

VIDEO CLIP

JUDGES COMMENTS
The judges thought Patrick's work showed great maturity for a young filmmaker. One said: "His work shows enormous emotional intelligence. The moving and revealing interviews he got from men under high pressure - fearful for their lives - were really quite extraordinary."

Another said: "This was Rory Peck journalism at its best - someone on their own - under their own steam - getting under the skin of a major news story."

BIOGRAPHY
Patrick Wells was born in 1984. He is a British freelance video journalist and filmmaker. After studying journalism at the Press Association in the UK, he joined Reuters as a cameraman stringer in West Africa in late 2009, reporting from Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast. He covered the 2010 election crisis in Guinea for two months - covering 4000km on a 100cc motorbike. Since March 2011, he has been working in Libya for clients including Al Jazeera English, AP, UNICEF, UNHCR, Channel 4 News, CNN, Human Rights Watch and BBC Panorama.

LINKS

• Patrick Wells on Twitter
• Holding the Line webpage at Al Jazeera