UNITED KINGDOM: New Puma.Creative Impact Award, judged by Queen Noor of Jordan, is awarded in London for recognition of the documentary film over the past three years that has had the greatest social impact

Record ID: 1531532

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: New Puma.Creative Impact Award, judged by Queen Noor of Jordan, is awarded in London for recognition of the documentary film over the past three years that has had the greatest social impact
  • Date: 12th October 2011
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 11, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUPERT MURRAY, DIRECTOR OF "THE END OF THE LINE", STANDING NEXT TO CLAIRE LEWIS AND GEORGE DUFFIELD, PRODUCERS, SAYING (IN RESPONSE TO WHAT THEIR FILM ADDRESSES): "The oceans are a fantastic resource. We need to celebrate them, we need to respect them, we need to save them. That's the issue that we cover in our film."
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2011 05:25
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA4HXDA5JXG5BYXVPZN02IFZ1NS
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: "The End Of The Line" wins the brand new Puma.Creative Impact Award for recognition of the documentary film over the past three years that has had the greatest social impact.
    The award was judged by Queen Noor of Jordan and handed over to film-making team, director Rupert Murray and producers Claire Lewis and George Duffield, by Her Majesty and Jochen Zeitz, Puma Chairman and CEO, at the inaugural Puma.Creative Impact Award Ceremony.
    The event was co-hosted by Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond" actor and two-times Oscar-nominee, and British broadcaster Jon Snow at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, London, on Tuesday evening (October 11).
    As part of the award, launched in partnership with Puma and the Channel 4 Britdoc Foundation, a 50,000 euro grant was given to acknowledge the film's creators and to help further fund the campaign and impact of the documentary.
    A surprise Special Jury Commendation Award and 25,000 euro grant was also given for "Burma VJ" to film-makers Anders U+00D8stergaard and Lise Lense-MU+00F8ller, after the jury, headed by Queen Noor, decided that two films deserved special recognition, for having had a groundbreaking social impact.
    "The End Of The Line" examines the devastating effect that overfishing has had on the world's fish populations and argues that drastic action must be taken to reverse these trends. As a result of the film's impact, a new marine reserve, spearheaded by Duffield, has been set up in The Maldives.
    "Burma VJ" shows undercover video journalists - or VJs - armed with small handycams in Burma who kept up the flow of news from their closed country despite risking torture and life in jail. Their material is smuggled out of Burma and broadcast back via satellite.
    Queen Noor, who headed the jury consisting of Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award-nominated Director of "Super Size Me", Orlando Bagwell, Director of the JustFilms initiative at the Ford Foundation, and Emmanuel Jal, a musician and activist, explained what the members that met on September 6 were looking for in a winning film.
    "Has the film succeed as a fundraising tool. How has it succeeded as an advocacy and an awareness promoting film. How has it succeeded in changing perceptions of individuals of corporate enities, of politicians. Has there been some impact that is measurable in some fashion or another?" she asked.
    With hidden cameras used in "Burma VJ" to document change and the authorities' brutal violence, asked what impact social media use is having, particularly in the light of the Arab Spring, the Queen said she watched as many clips as possible to keep up to date with situations, both in her region and other countries.
    "You're beginning to see the human face, of problems that were really just soundbites or headlines in newspapers, were politicians statements and rhetoric, but never really the actual human face behind events that are really only important because they're affecting people's lives," Queen Noor said.
    Lense-MU+00F8ller explained her own experiences of the impact of "Burma VJ", saying that it had been an inspiration to a lot of people.
    "I think that some of the things we are seeing now in the Arab Spring may to some extent have been inspired by it, and I also showed the film to an audience in east Europe, for instance, who were very inspired by it because they felt it was about their recent history. So it can talk to people on different levels," she said.
    Murray was rendered speechless upon receiving the Puma.Creative Impact Award from Queen Noor and Zeitz, after earlier talking at length about how we need to celebrate, respect and save our oceans, before it's too late. He was particularly proud of getting Frank Mars, owner of Mars Confectionary, who owns cat food brands Kitekat and Whiskers, to only source sustainable seafood in cat food by 2020.
    Duffield believes we can all do our part to make a social change.
    "You can fix this one without changing our lives, without radically overhauling society, without unrealistic expectations, or how people behave. You just have to eat sensibly, and you have to know what you're doing, and that's not too big an ask," he said.
    The films shortlisted for the award cover topics ranging from environmental issues to social justice and global conflict. The finalists for the 2011 Puma.Creative Impact Award were announced at the Durban International Film Festival in July this year.
    "The Age of Stupid", directed by Fanny Armstrong and produced by Lizzie Gillett, stars Oscar-nominated and the late Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching "archive" footage of our time now and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?
    "The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court", directed by Pamela Yates and produced by Paco de OnU+00EDs, shows a David & Goliath battle of titanic proportions unfolding as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators and world superpowers in his struggle to tame the Wild West of global conflict zones and bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice.
    "Trouble The Water", directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, follows an aspiring rap artist, trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters of Katrina, who survives the disaster and seizes a chance for a new beginning. Celebrating community resilience in the face of massive government failures, "Trouble the Water" raises searing questions about race and class in America.
    The Puma.Creative Impact Award is one of six initiatives made possible through a partnership between Puma.Creative and Channel 4 Britdoc Foundation. At the Durban International Film Festival, the Puma.Creative Catalyst Programme launched a five-day workshop for film-makers who do not have access to the mainstream circuit, helping to turn their ideas into reality. In addition, several Puma.Creative Catalyst Awards and Puma.Creative Mobility Awards were given to support film-makers at the festival.
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