The Firing Line

to drama. Now on BBC News, we pay tribute to

the freelance journalists who risk their lives to bring you pictures

from the world's most dangerous places. Expect to see some graphic

and powerful images right from the start, in Firing Line. Stuff was

just exploding next to us. Windows broken by explosions. How am I

going to die? A missile? A bullet? Here is a young child who tell us

matter-of-factly that her mother has just died. As if it was just

The images we see on our screens, we often take for granted.

You say you don't want to do prostitution, do you think you

might have to in the beginning to make the money that you need?

Imagine what's going through the minds of the men and women out

there filming them. They witness the horrors, dodge the

bullets and defy oppressive regimes. This is not a normal life. You will

never be a normal soldier. Often their work touches us because

through their lens we are introduced to people and places

we've never seen before. These are some of the best pictures of the

Welcome to Firing Line. Each year we step behind the camera to speak

to those who work on the frontline of danger. In this programme we'll

share the stories of freelance camera operators, nominated in the

three categories of the Rory Peck Awards. This year the judges looked

through the work of more than 60 entrants from around the world. The

awards were founded in the name of Rory Peck, a British freelance

killed by crossfire in Moscow in 1993. His memory lives on through

the trust which works on behalf of the freelance camera operator. Now,

a look at the finalists and winners. First up, the features category.

Elizabeth Jones captures the start of the Egyptian revolution as it

unfolds from an exclusive position Elizabeth embeds herself inside the

secret headquarters of the April 6th Movement, next to Tahrir Square.

From there she chronicles the first ten days of the revolution, as

experienced by a core group of youth leaders.

They are beating people in the streets.

The shoot is not without difficulties and dangers. As the

crack down intensifies, the headquarters and Elizabeth herself

become vulnerable. The headquarters was raided on

February 3, I believe. There were a number of activists, about 15, were

arrested. I had actually just been in the headquarters. I was arrested

on the street. My camera had been left in the headquarters. By the

time I got anywhere close to it, it was gone. That was probably the

most dangerous moment for me. No stranger to the Rory Peck Awards,

the Canadian has been nominated six times in her career.

It really is very rare that you actually can be a witness to

history with the people who are making the history. That is what

happened in Egypt for me. It was really an extraordinary thing,

which I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Their dramatic depiction of the Libyan revolution earns Reed

Lindsay and Jihan Hafiz a finalist nomination in the features category.

Based in the port city of Benghazi, their film is the uprising as seen

through the eyes of ordinary people, caught in the cross-fire of

political change. Reed and Jihan arrive amid

bloodshed. The situation is deteriorating quickly as Gaddafi

forces retaliate with ferocity. The most memorable part of the film,

to me, I have to say, is the opening sequence. It was a very

powerful thing for me to see. There's about a couple of thousand

people praying in this open area, because I understood that they were

fighting an army, the faces of the people and the tears and the

resilience, you could feel the resilience and see it in their eyes.

That will always be most memorable to me about my first impression and

first understanding of the Libyan revolution.

The Libyan revolution just really took hold of me and because I've

never experienced, I've never been with a people that have been so

courageous, so, that have had such a strong spirit and have been

surrounded by so many people willing to risk their lives, for

what they believe is right. It's a powerful portrait of the

turmoil in Libya again, which takes the features prize. As the country

descends into civil war, Abdullah Omeish based himself with relatives

in Benghazi, right at the heart of the uprising.

Moved by the news from Libya, Abdullah leaves his home in the US

to record history in the making. The story is important to me

because it's close to home. It's where I was born. It touched a very

close place in my heart. It was like a volcano eruption of

emotion. And of words. People wanted to express themselves. For

42 years they've never been able to say anything.

Abdullah follows the story of Mohammed Nabus, who as the

revolution unfolds, turns from care free young man to internet activist.

What I felt about Mohammed Nabus was that he represented the Libyan

youth in general, of the aspirations to want more for the

country, he embodied that. He had a lot of charisma and energy. I just,

you know, assembled one of the pieces to be a server. It's growing

every day. Tonight we should have it. Abdullah chronicles Mohammed's

difficult quest to set up the first independent Libyan satellite

channel so they can get the news out to the world. They become close

friends. And then the worst happened. While out filming one day

Mohammed is shot in the head. It was devastating. When I found

out that he died, I just remember one, I couldn't believe it. And

then like, to be gone and he had his wife was pregnant at that time.

It definitely took something out of me. It made me look at things a lot

differently, because it represented the whole Libyan revolution. It

wasn't just his story. But his story embodied the whole population

because of the young people that died that had so much to offer,

that were bright, that there was so much potential. Here it was being

destroyed. It was taken away. Another to be taken away is one of

Abdullah's own relatives. He films at the hospital. Then the father

When I went, his dad had found out that I was making a film. He said,

I want him to come over. He was really angry that his son got shot.

And the fact that he wasn't doing anything and he got shot. Then he

had told me, I want to show you this. He had put this on his TV

screen and he told me to film it. The worst moment was when Gaddafi

forces came back. Because the bombing was on top of us. I

remember going on top of the building and I could... I was

filming like the bombing. I could see smoke, smoke, smoke. After a

while I heard a missile over us. I had to go downstairs. That was just

the moment that you think - how am I going to die? Is it a missile or

a bullet or are they going to come in and kill us and what would I do,

how would I protect myself? I think you're always, in the back of your

head, scared. I don't think anybody's not scared. I'm like, I

guess I'm not going to see my kids again, not going to see my wife or

family. Then you try not to think about that. I tried to be cautious.

I would ask myself, is it worth it, to get that shot, or is it worth it

to do this? Sometimes I would say, no, it's not worth it. Don't put

yourself in that situation. Especially I have kids now, it's

different. Now to the finalists for news:

Vladimir Kostin puts himself right at the centre of action during the

the presidential elections in Belarus last December.

The capital sees large-scale protests against hard line

President Alexander Lukashenko. Menacing government forces confront

thousands of protesters. It's a showdown.

Vladimir films as police and security agents intensify their

crack down on opposition voters, who say the President rigged his

re-election. TRANSLATION: When you're actually

there, filming, you haven't got time for emotions. Probably because

a camera is like an emotional and psychological barrier between you

and the events that are unfolding. So if you're scared, then there's

no point in going. You won't be able to work because you'll be

looking for the safest place. The safest place is at home.

As the Egyptian revolution kicks off, Jason Parkinson's compelling

footage from Cairo captures the beginning of the end for President

Hosni Mubarak. Amid the turmoil, Jason's main

concern is keeping one step ahead of the security forces. As riot

police storm the streets of Cairo, he trains his camera on them,

enduring tear gas from one side. And flying rocks from the thousands

of protesters on the other. From the moment we started filming,

it was very clear to keep a distance away from all of the

police. We did get some very close- up shots next to the units of

security forces, the riot officers. But it was the plain clothes, once

they saw you and got near you, they were directing people and directing

the other security forces to come get us.

The hostel where Jason is staying is right on the front line,

providing the perfect vantage point to film, as events unfold around

him. But the real evidence of police

brutality is on the ground. Several people we saw with head

wounds. It was from the back. There was no entry wounds at the front.

These people had been shot in the back. As they were running away

somebody was opening fire on them. I do still feel like we could have

done more as journalists to tell the world what was going on there.

People saying, yes, your stuff has gone all over the world, so people

do know what's going on. That was Finally, the winner is Ahmed

Bahaddou for dramatic coverage of a rebel offensive during the Libyan

civil war. He was one of the first journalists to join rebels fighting

forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in The rebel fighters invite Ahmed to

follow them on an operation. They clash with Gaddafi forces near the

strategic village of Al-Mjabra. It doesn't take long before they come

When bullets were flying quite low, I was worried sometimes. Then I

forget about it, because I just want to get my shot and just like

concentrate on the pictures. Most of the time I forget about the

But also I need also to know that people around me are armed enough

to respond to any sort of, you know if we have too close contact with

the enemy, I was surrounded by 200 guys. So for me, it was sort of

safety. The gateway to the Tunisian border and rebel supply line is

vital. Ahmed is the only journalist to witness the day-long battle.

With little training, the rebels managed to push back Gaddafi forces

and establish control of the village. When I was with these guys,

my impression was that these guys were quite determined to get on and

fight, from any kind of background, they were dentists, there were guys

that had studied abroad in America, Canada, UK, in Italy. They were

quite determined to get rid of the Gaddafi regime. You could see them.

Not knowing anything about weaponry but just going and learning on the

battlefields. I realised the people I was with were not as a

professional army. You do not realise how close the rockets were

flying above our heads, but you don't realise that in that moment

because you just want to get the shot, the reaction of the people,

and the sound, and a nice shot. Because I was running with my

tripod and had a bullet-proof jacket, the tripod and a camera and

my bag full of batteries. Some people who do not know anything

about television ask how can I do that because it is hot, you don't

drink that much water and it's dangerous. I think I gained the

trust because I speak Arabic so for them it was a key issue. They do

not trust people with whom they cannot communicate. By the end of

the day the rebels have inflicted several casualties on their enemies

and captured a Gaddafi loyalist. They do not let you film a

prisoners because they say its under Geneva Convention. But they

let me film that guy. They want to treat him well in front of my

camera. There is a lot of luck. Sometimes it is Russian roulette.

You go with an untrained army, even if you go with a trained army to

Afhghanistan, Africa to Iraq,places like that, it is luck, there is

nothing you can do about it. When your time has come, it's your time.

It does not have to stop you doing your job the best way. And now, as

every year, a special award for global impact. British finalist

Matt Haan's work underlines the plight of people with learning

difficulties in China who have been Travelling to Shanxi province, Matt

follows a father searching for his son who has disappeared. He fears

his son has been abducted and sold into slavery to work in a brick

It seems to have taken over his life, his search for his son.

was so shocked by the fact that nobody was helping. He reported it

to a number of different authorities and nothing happened.

As the country develops economically at breakneck speed and

cracks are deepening in Chinese society and Matt sees the the

vulnerable being victimised. think the sequence which affected

me the most were when the father meets with another father, Mr Lee,

who had lost his son. In the process of them talking, Mr Lee

It really showed the human nature of what was happening, regardless

of all the bigger issues and questions it may raise. The simple

fact these men had lost their sons From China to Kenya. Sarah Nason

looks at how the women of the Pokot community are rebelling against the

The families live far into the hills, several miles from an

already remote village. Sarah walks for hours to meet these young women

who are driving change within their community. There was a grassroots

African self-help group, that were volunteers who had decided the

tribe had to change. It was just so barbaric. They had got together and

were helping to persuade parents and put on an alternative rite of

Their stories are shocking. For centuries, female circumcision has

been regarded as a rite of passage for women to marry. There is

bleeding, severe bleeding. At times they shock. Sometimes they die

suddenly. I felt it in the air, it was the palpable, the tribe was

shifting opinion as we were there. It felt like catching that moment

on the cusp of change. Finally, this year's Sony Professional

Impact Award goes to Australian Jezza Neumann for his disturbing

undercover documentary on the It proved to be the toughest shoot

Jezza follows a group of children and their struggle to simply

survive. Poverty and disease are He has permission from the ruling

ZANU-PF party to make a film about the childhood of a South African

colleague, Xoliswa Sithole, who was schooled in its Zimbabwe in better

days. What they are actually doing risks getting them deported or

thrown in jail. The moment you start to take a camera out and film

something, the CIO, Central Intelligence Officer, the

Zimbabwean secret police, were on To get these shots, the camera is

on the ground and Jezza is pretending to tie up his shoelaces.

They were interrogated 12 times. Zimbabwe was very challenging to

film. What was important was that Jexxa as a cameraperson has done a

lot of undercover work. When I was being interrogated by the secret

police, he had a way of letting the camera roll. It is the Zimbabweans

they are filming that Jezza worries about the most. I felt our

contributors were at severe risk. Those are the ones the authorities

would go after and they would be exposed once we left. Until the

film actually went to air, we had an international platform which

would put more pressure on the government of Zimbabwe to not do

anything to the contributors. Until then, I felt like they were

genuinely at a lot of risk. Nine- year-old Esther is one of the

film's main contributors. Her father has already died of AIDS and

now her mother is dying too. HIV positive herself, Esther is looking

The most heartbreaking moment for Jezza comes as they return to see

Esther and she tells them her Here is a younger child who tells

us matter of factly that her mother has died as if it was just the

event of that day. Just the same as if it had rained today or it was

windy. "My mum died." That's how she delivered it and tells us. The

other sad thing is she tells it was a relief because she no longer has

to look after her mother as well as Tino. That is tragic. The film

shows a school of 1,000 children, in which 350 are orphans. The vast

majority of their families cannot afford even minimal fees so one day

The plight of the children in the So Esther and Tino are now being

looked after in a special orphanage run up by SOS Children. Because of

the enormity of the response, we have worked with a charity in

Zimbabwe and started a feeding programme. This film highlights how

if you give children opportunities and give them end education, they

can go places. If you remove that, if you take that away, they are