:00:02. > :00:04.to drama. Now on BBC News, we pay tribute to
:00:04. > :00:06.the freelance journalists who risk their lives to bring you pictures
:00:06. > :00:09.from the world's most dangerous places. Expect to see some graphic
:00:09. > :00:12.and powerful images right from the start, in Firing Line. Stuff was
:00:12. > :00:18.just exploding next to us. Windows broken by explosions. How am I
:00:18. > :00:21.going to die? A missile? A bullet? Here is a young child who tell us
:00:21. > :00:31.matter-of-factly that her mother has just died. As if it was just
:00:31. > :01:04.
:01:04. > :01:07.The images we see on our screens, we often take for granted.
:01:07. > :01:12.You say you don't want to do prostitution, do you think you
:01:12. > :01:15.might have to in the beginning to make the money that you need?
:01:15. > :01:21.Imagine what's going through the minds of the men and women out
:01:21. > :01:30.there filming them. They witness the horrors, dodge the
:01:30. > :01:36.bullets and defy oppressive regimes. This is not a normal life. You will
:01:36. > :01:38.never be a normal soldier. Often their work touches us because
:01:38. > :01:43.through their lens we are introduced to people and places
:01:43. > :01:53.we've never seen before. These are some of the best pictures of the
:01:53. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:33.Welcome to Firing Line. Each year we step behind the camera to speak
:02:33. > :02:35.to those who work on the frontline of danger. In this programme we'll
:02:35. > :02:40.share the stories of freelance camera operators, nominated in the
:02:40. > :02:46.three categories of the Rory Peck Awards. This year the judges looked
:02:46. > :02:48.through the work of more than 60 entrants from around the world. The
:02:48. > :02:55.awards were founded in the name of Rory Peck, a British freelance
:02:55. > :02:59.killed by crossfire in Moscow in 1993. His memory lives on through
:02:59. > :03:06.the trust which works on behalf of the freelance camera operator. Now,
:03:06. > :03:09.a look at the finalists and winners. First up, the features category.
:03:09. > :03:19.Elizabeth Jones captures the start of the Egyptian revolution as it
:03:19. > :03:19.
:03:19. > :03:29.unfolds from an exclusive position Elizabeth embeds herself inside the
:03:29. > :03:29.
:03:29. > :03:31.secret headquarters of the April 6th Movement, next to Tahrir Square.
:03:31. > :03:39.From there she chronicles the first ten days of the revolution, as
:03:39. > :03:47.experienced by a core group of youth leaders.
:03:47. > :03:51.They are beating people in the streets.
:03:51. > :03:52.The shoot is not without difficulties and dangers. As the
:03:52. > :03:59.crack down intensifies, the headquarters and Elizabeth herself
:04:00. > :04:07.become vulnerable. The headquarters was raided on
:04:07. > :04:12.February 3, I believe. There were a number of activists, about 15, were
:04:12. > :04:18.arrested. I had actually just been in the headquarters. I was arrested
:04:18. > :04:22.on the street. My camera had been left in the headquarters. By the
:04:22. > :04:27.time I got anywhere close to it, it was gone. That was probably the
:04:28. > :04:33.most dangerous moment for me. No stranger to the Rory Peck Awards,
:04:33. > :04:36.the Canadian has been nominated six times in her career.
:04:36. > :04:40.It really is very rare that you actually can be a witness to
:04:40. > :04:43.history with the people who are making the history. That is what
:04:43. > :04:48.happened in Egypt for me. It was really an extraordinary thing,
:04:48. > :04:50.which I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.
:04:50. > :05:00.Their dramatic depiction of the Libyan revolution earns Reed
:05:00. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:06.Lindsay and Jihan Hafiz a finalist nomination in the features category.
:05:06. > :05:08.Based in the port city of Benghazi, their film is the uprising as seen
:05:08. > :05:14.through the eyes of ordinary people, caught in the cross-fire of
:05:14. > :05:18.political change. Reed and Jihan arrive amid
:05:18. > :05:28.bloodshed. The situation is deteriorating quickly as Gaddafi
:05:28. > :05:31.
:05:32. > :05:37.forces retaliate with ferocity. The most memorable part of the film,
:05:37. > :05:43.to me, I have to say, is the opening sequence. It was a very
:05:43. > :05:45.powerful thing for me to see. There's about a couple of thousand
:05:45. > :05:48.people praying in this open area, because I understood that they were
:05:48. > :05:56.fighting an army, the faces of the people and the tears and the
:05:56. > :05:59.resilience, you could feel the resilience and see it in their eyes.
:05:59. > :06:07.That will always be most memorable to me about my first impression and
:06:08. > :06:10.first understanding of the Libyan revolution.
:06:10. > :06:12.The Libyan revolution just really took hold of me and because I've
:06:12. > :06:15.never experienced, I've never been with a people that have been so
:06:15. > :06:17.courageous, so, that have had such a strong spirit and have been
:06:17. > :06:27.surrounded by so many people willing to risk their lives, for
:06:27. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:38.what they believe is right. It's a powerful portrait of the
:06:38. > :06:40.turmoil in Libya again, which takes the features prize. As the country
:06:40. > :06:49.descends into civil war, Abdullah Omeish based himself with relatives
:06:49. > :06:51.in Benghazi, right at the heart of the uprising.
:06:52. > :06:57.Moved by the news from Libya, Abdullah leaves his home in the US
:06:57. > :07:04.to record history in the making. The story is important to me
:07:04. > :07:14.because it's close to home. It's where I was born. It touched a very
:07:14. > :07:14.
:07:14. > :07:20.close place in my heart. It was like a volcano eruption of
:07:20. > :07:24.emotion. And of words. People wanted to express themselves. For
:07:24. > :07:26.42 years they've never been able to say anything.
:07:26. > :07:34.Abdullah follows the story of Mohammed Nabus, who as the
:07:34. > :07:37.revolution unfolds, turns from care free young man to internet activist.
:07:37. > :07:39.What I felt about Mohammed Nabus was that he represented the Libyan
:07:39. > :07:49.youth in general, of the aspirations to want more for the
:07:49. > :07:51.country, he embodied that. He had a lot of charisma and energy. I just,
:07:52. > :07:55.you know, assembled one of the pieces to be a server. It's growing
:07:55. > :07:57.every day. Tonight we should have it. Abdullah chronicles Mohammed's
:07:57. > :08:02.difficult quest to set up the first independent Libyan satellite
:08:02. > :08:07.channel so they can get the news out to the world. They become close
:08:07. > :08:17.friends. And then the worst happened. While out filming one day
:08:17. > :08:20.
:08:20. > :08:23.Mohammed is shot in the head. It was devastating. When I found
:08:23. > :08:26.out that he died, I just remember one, I couldn't believe it. And
:08:26. > :08:29.then like, to be gone and he had his wife was pregnant at that time.
:08:29. > :08:32.It definitely took something out of me. It made me look at things a lot
:08:32. > :08:40.differently, because it represented the whole Libyan revolution. It
:08:40. > :08:43.wasn't just his story. But his story embodied the whole population
:08:43. > :08:47.because of the young people that died that had so much to offer,
:08:47. > :08:56.that were bright, that there was so much potential. Here it was being
:08:56. > :09:00.destroyed. It was taken away. Another to be taken away is one of
:09:00. > :09:10.Abdullah's own relatives. He films at the hospital. Then the father
:09:10. > :09:19.
:09:20. > :09:23.When I went, his dad had found out that I was making a film. He said,
:09:23. > :09:27.I want him to come over. He was really angry that his son got shot.
:09:27. > :09:32.And the fact that he wasn't doing anything and he got shot. Then he
:09:32. > :09:42.had told me, I want to show you this. He had put this on his TV
:09:42. > :09:52.screen and he told me to film it. The worst moment was when Gaddafi
:09:52. > :09:55.forces came back. Because the bombing was on top of us. I
:09:55. > :09:57.remember going on top of the building and I could... I was
:09:57. > :10:03.filming like the bombing. I could see smoke, smoke, smoke. After a
:10:03. > :10:10.while I heard a missile over us. I had to go downstairs. That was just
:10:10. > :10:13.the moment that you think - how am I going to die? Is it a missile or
:10:13. > :10:19.a bullet or are they going to come in and kill us and what would I do,
:10:19. > :10:24.how would I protect myself? I think you're always, in the back of your
:10:24. > :10:27.head, scared. I don't think anybody's not scared. I'm like, I
:10:27. > :10:35.guess I'm not going to see my kids again, not going to see my wife or
:10:36. > :10:39.family. Then you try not to think about that. I tried to be cautious.
:10:39. > :10:42.I would ask myself, is it worth it, to get that shot, or is it worth it
:10:42. > :10:45.to do this? Sometimes I would say, no, it's not worth it. Don't put
:10:45. > :10:51.yourself in that situation. Especially I have kids now, it's
:10:51. > :10:54.different. Now to the finalists for news:
:10:54. > :11:04.Vladimir Kostin puts himself right at the centre of action during the
:11:04. > :11:04.
:11:04. > :11:06.the presidential elections in Belarus last December.
:11:06. > :11:16.The capital sees large-scale protests against hard line
:11:16. > :11:21.
:11:21. > :11:27.President Alexander Lukashenko. Menacing government forces confront
:11:27. > :11:29.thousands of protesters. It's a showdown.
:11:29. > :11:31.Vladimir films as police and security agents intensify their
:11:31. > :11:39.crack down on opposition voters, who say the President rigged his
:11:39. > :11:44.re-election. TRANSLATION: When you're actually
:11:44. > :11:46.there, filming, you haven't got time for emotions. Probably because
:11:46. > :11:52.a camera is like an emotional and psychological barrier between you
:11:52. > :11:57.and the events that are unfolding. So if you're scared, then there's
:11:57. > :12:06.no point in going. You won't be able to work because you'll be
:12:06. > :12:08.looking for the safest place. The safest place is at home.
:12:08. > :12:10.As the Egyptian revolution kicks off, Jason Parkinson's compelling
:12:10. > :12:20.footage from Cairo captures the beginning of the end for President
:12:20. > :12:25.
:12:25. > :12:30.Hosni Mubarak. Amid the turmoil, Jason's main
:12:30. > :12:33.concern is keeping one step ahead of the security forces. As riot
:12:33. > :12:39.police storm the streets of Cairo, he trains his camera on them,
:12:40. > :12:47.enduring tear gas from one side. And flying rocks from the thousands
:12:47. > :12:50.of protesters on the other. From the moment we started filming,
:12:50. > :12:54.it was very clear to keep a distance away from all of the
:12:54. > :13:01.police. We did get some very close- up shots next to the units of
:13:01. > :13:03.security forces, the riot officers. But it was the plain clothes, once
:13:03. > :13:07.they saw you and got near you, they were directing people and directing
:13:07. > :13:09.the other security forces to come get us.
:13:09. > :13:11.The hostel where Jason is staying is right on the front line,
:13:11. > :13:18.providing the perfect vantage point to film, as events unfold around
:13:18. > :13:22.him. But the real evidence of police
:13:23. > :13:31.brutality is on the ground. Several people we saw with head
:13:31. > :13:38.wounds. It was from the back. There was no entry wounds at the front.
:13:38. > :13:42.These people had been shot in the back. As they were running away
:13:42. > :13:47.somebody was opening fire on them. I do still feel like we could have
:13:47. > :13:50.done more as journalists to tell the world what was going on there.
:13:50. > :13:57.People saying, yes, your stuff has gone all over the world, so people
:13:57. > :14:00.do know what's going on. That was Finally, the winner is Ahmed
:14:00. > :14:03.Bahaddou for dramatic coverage of a rebel offensive during the Libyan
:14:03. > :14:13.civil war. He was one of the first journalists to join rebels fighting
:14:13. > :14:15.
:14:15. > :14:21.forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in The rebel fighters invite Ahmed to
:14:21. > :14:24.follow them on an operation. They clash with Gaddafi forces near the
:14:25. > :14:34.strategic village of Al-Mjabra. It doesn't take long before they come
:14:35. > :14:39.
:14:39. > :14:43.When bullets were flying quite low, I was worried sometimes. Then I
:14:43. > :14:47.forget about it, because I just want to get my shot and just like
:14:47. > :14:56.concentrate on the pictures. Most of the time I forget about the
:14:56. > :14:59.But also I need also to know that people around me are armed enough
:14:59. > :15:04.to respond to any sort of, you know if we have too close contact with
:15:04. > :15:10.the enemy, I was surrounded by 200 guys. So for me, it was sort of
:15:10. > :15:18.safety. The gateway to the Tunisian border and rebel supply line is
:15:18. > :15:21.vital. Ahmed is the only journalist to witness the day-long battle.
:15:21. > :15:28.With little training, the rebels managed to push back Gaddafi forces
:15:28. > :15:31.and establish control of the village. When I was with these guys,
:15:31. > :15:34.my impression was that these guys were quite determined to get on and
:15:34. > :15:44.fight, from any kind of background, they were dentists, there were guys
:15:44. > :15:44.
:15:44. > :15:51.that had studied abroad in America, Canada, UK, in Italy. They were
:15:51. > :15:54.quite determined to get rid of the Gaddafi regime. You could see them.
:15:54. > :16:02.Not knowing anything about weaponry but just going and learning on the
:16:02. > :16:06.battlefields. I realised the people I was with were not as a
:16:06. > :16:09.professional army. You do not realise how close the rockets were
:16:09. > :16:12.flying above our heads, but you don't realise that in that moment
:16:12. > :16:19.because you just want to get the shot, the reaction of the people,
:16:19. > :16:22.and the sound, and a nice shot. Because I was running with my
:16:22. > :16:28.tripod and had a bullet-proof jacket, the tripod and a camera and
:16:28. > :16:31.my bag full of batteries. Some people who do not know anything
:16:31. > :16:39.about television ask how can I do that because it is hot, you don't
:16:39. > :16:44.drink that much water and it's dangerous. I think I gained the
:16:44. > :16:50.trust because I speak Arabic so for them it was a key issue. They do
:16:50. > :16:52.not trust people with whom they cannot communicate. By the end of
:16:52. > :16:58.the day the rebels have inflicted several casualties on their enemies
:16:58. > :17:01.and captured a Gaddafi loyalist. They do not let you film a
:17:01. > :17:07.prisoners because they say its under Geneva Convention. But they
:17:07. > :17:17.let me film that guy. They want to treat him well in front of my
:17:17. > :17:19.
:17:19. > :17:23.camera. There is a lot of luck. Sometimes it is Russian roulette.
:17:23. > :17:25.You go with an untrained army, even if you go with a trained army to
:17:25. > :17:35.Afhghanistan, Africa to Iraq,places like that, it is luck, there is
:17:35. > :17:35.
:17:35. > :17:43.nothing you can do about it. When your time has come, it's your time.
:17:43. > :17:47.It does not have to stop you doing your job the best way. And now, as
:17:47. > :17:49.every year, a special award for global impact. British finalist
:17:49. > :17:59.Matt Haan's work underlines the plight of people with learning
:17:59. > :18:01.
:18:01. > :18:07.difficulties in China who have been Travelling to Shanxi province, Matt
:18:07. > :18:11.follows a father searching for his son who has disappeared. He fears
:18:11. > :18:21.his son has been abducted and sold into slavery to work in a brick
:18:21. > :18:23.
:18:23. > :18:27.It seems to have taken over his life, his search for his son.
:18:27. > :18:33.was so shocked by the fact that nobody was helping. He reported it
:18:33. > :18:35.to a number of different authorities and nothing happened.
:18:35. > :18:38.As the country develops economically at breakneck speed and
:18:38. > :18:44.cracks are deepening in Chinese society and Matt sees the the
:18:44. > :18:47.vulnerable being victimised. think the sequence which affected
:18:47. > :18:52.me the most were when the father meets with another father, Mr Lee,
:18:52. > :19:02.who had lost his son. In the process of them talking, Mr Lee
:19:02. > :19:26.
:19:26. > :19:31.It really showed the human nature of what was happening, regardless
:19:31. > :19:41.of all the bigger issues and questions it may raise. The simple
:19:41. > :19:42.
:19:42. > :19:45.fact these men had lost their sons From China to Kenya. Sarah Nason
:19:45. > :19:55.looks at how the women of the Pokot community are rebelling against the
:19:55. > :19:55.
:19:55. > :20:02.The families live far into the hills, several miles from an
:20:02. > :20:08.already remote village. Sarah walks for hours to meet these young women
:20:08. > :20:11.who are driving change within their community. There was a grassroots
:20:11. > :20:21.African self-help group, that were volunteers who had decided the
:20:21. > :20:23.
:20:23. > :20:26.tribe had to change. It was just so barbaric. They had got together and
:20:26. > :20:36.were helping to persuade parents and put on an alternative rite of
:20:36. > :20:38.
:20:38. > :20:45.Their stories are shocking. For centuries, female circumcision has
:20:45. > :20:53.been regarded as a rite of passage for women to marry. There is
:20:53. > :20:59.bleeding, severe bleeding. At times they shock. Sometimes they die
:20:59. > :21:05.suddenly. I felt it in the air, it was the palpable, the tribe was
:21:05. > :21:14.shifting opinion as we were there. It felt like catching that moment
:21:14. > :21:16.on the cusp of change. Finally, this year's Sony Professional
:21:16. > :21:24.Impact Award goes to Australian Jezza Neumann for his disturbing
:21:24. > :21:34.undercover documentary on the It proved to be the toughest shoot
:21:34. > :21:55.
:21:55. > :22:05.Jezza follows a group of children and their struggle to simply
:22:05. > :22:17.
:22:17. > :22:20.survive. Poverty and disease are He has permission from the ruling
:22:20. > :22:23.ZANU-PF party to make a film about the childhood of a South African
:22:23. > :22:28.colleague, Xoliswa Sithole, who was schooled in its Zimbabwe in better
:22:28. > :22:35.days. What they are actually doing risks getting them deported or
:22:35. > :22:36.thrown in jail. The moment you start to take a camera out and film
:22:36. > :22:46.something, the CIO, Central Intelligence Officer, the
:22:46. > :22:49.
:22:49. > :22:53.Zimbabwean secret police, were on To get these shots, the camera is
:22:53. > :22:59.on the ground and Jezza is pretending to tie up his shoelaces.
:22:59. > :23:03.They were interrogated 12 times. Zimbabwe was very challenging to
:23:03. > :23:08.film. What was important was that Jexxa as a cameraperson has done a
:23:08. > :23:15.lot of undercover work. When I was being interrogated by the secret
:23:15. > :23:20.police, he had a way of letting the camera roll. It is the Zimbabweans
:23:21. > :23:25.they are filming that Jezza worries about the most. I felt our
:23:25. > :23:30.contributors were at severe risk. Those are the ones the authorities
:23:30. > :23:33.would go after and they would be exposed once we left. Until the
:23:33. > :23:36.film actually went to air, we had an international platform which
:23:36. > :23:40.would put more pressure on the government of Zimbabwe to not do
:23:40. > :23:50.anything to the contributors. Until then, I felt like they were
:23:50. > :23:53.
:23:53. > :23:56.genuinely at a lot of risk. Nine- year-old Esther is one of the
:23:56. > :23:59.film's main contributors. Her father has already died of AIDS and
:23:59. > :24:09.now her mother is dying too. HIV positive herself, Esther is looking
:24:09. > :24:11.
:24:11. > :24:21.The most heartbreaking moment for Jezza comes as they return to see
:24:21. > :24:26.
:24:26. > :24:29.Esther and she tells them her Here is a younger child who tells
:24:29. > :24:33.us matter of factly that her mother has died as if it was just the
:24:33. > :24:37.event of that day. Just the same as if it had rained today or it was
:24:37. > :24:40.windy. "My mum died." That's how she delivered it and tells us. The
:24:40. > :24:47.other sad thing is she tells it was a relief because she no longer has
:24:47. > :24:52.to look after her mother as well as Tino. That is tragic. The film
:24:52. > :24:55.shows a school of 1,000 children, in which 350 are orphans. The vast
:24:55. > :25:05.majority of their families cannot afford even minimal fees so one day
:25:05. > :25:17.
:25:17. > :25:24.The plight of the children in the So Esther and Tino are now being
:25:24. > :25:27.looked after in a special orphanage run up by SOS Children. Because of
:25:27. > :25:33.the enormity of the response, we have worked with a charity in
:25:33. > :25:36.Zimbabwe and started a feeding programme. This film highlights how
:25:36. > :25:42.if you give children opportunities and give them end education, they
:25:43. > :25:52.can go places. If you remove that, if you take that away, they are