The film that would win the World Press Multimedia Award (if there was a public vote)

Obviously the top people at The World Press know a thing or two about how to run a competition. For their latest award, they’ve decided that the FIFA World Cup football selection model is the way to go. Well, not quite …

According to someone commenting on the duckrabbit the nominators of this years multimedia awards will remain anonymous until the award is announced.

Hello?

If we are to believe the comment, World Press’ argument is that the nominators will remain nameless to prevent them from being kidnapped (or influenced).

Hello?

Nominators will ask around if they are serious about finding the ‘best’ work. The people they work with, and their friends, will know that they are nominators and subtly they will be influenced. The people that won’t be able to get attention for their work are those on the outside.

Did it ever occur to anyone that sometimes the outsiders do the best work? Maybe. And maybe that’s why there is such a restrictive system (more to come on that conspiracy theory in another post).

Proof?

I teach photofilms on the masters programmes at London College of Communication. Four of the films made by my students are better then almost anything I saw last year. Have they been seen by anyone? No. Do they therefore stand any chance of being nominated? I doubt it. At least if I knew who was nominating I could approach them on my students behalf.

Do the people at World Press have the attitude that ‘we know best and we know the people who know best’?

Maybe they do know best. Probably better then me. But that can only be a hypothesis right? And all hypothesis’s need to be tested. In the age of the internet there are other ways of doing things, but if you are going to do nominations, be transparent and announce who has the power. Let people upload their work onto a site and let people debate the work.

Do an open and a closed competition.

On the off chance the nominators will really remain anonymous, below is the photo film (in my opinion) that should win. There is a high possibility that not a single nominator has seen it and that’s absurd.

In photofilms, when it comes to audiences, names mean nothing. Photographers, beautifully lit talking to the camera, mean nothing (its just cheap content), it’s all about the story.

Take ten minutes.

Like any decent photo film you HAVE to get to the end to appreciate it.

I don’t care what the jury says.

This is the best photo film of last year, or any year. It wounded me.

Bright Brass is a photofilm about a brass band of former street children in Kinshasa (Congo DRC). This self-funded film is made by Rachel Corner (photography) and Laurens Nijzink (audio). This photofilm appeared on the website of The Guardian on 16 novembre 2010.

In Kinshasa (Congo DRC), between an estimated 25.000 and 40.000 children are living on the street. They are either orphans or have been expelled by their families. Accusation of witchcraft is an often-cited reason for ousting a child from a household. Despite the violence and insecurity the children face on the street and the criminal activities and prostitution they sometimes have to employ in order to stay alive, many prefer street life to abuse at home.

Espace Masolo is a day centre that organizes French lessons and cultural activities – mainly their brass band – for street children taken in by other centers where they stay overnight. In Kinshasa it is rare to find such an organization that works with children on cultural projects. It is wonderful to see the brass band empowering these youngsters by giving them so much joy and self-confidence.

We have portrayed 3 children from this brass band. They tell their story about how they lost their families and what it means for them to play in the brass band. These are painful stories but, despite the burden they carry, the photofilm also shows how they found joy at Espace Masolo and that they radiate confidence about their future.

You can SUPPORT Espace Masolo by sending some money to their bank account at the BIAC (Banque Internationale pour l’Afrique au Congo). Account: 33000670101 CRSAA-Espace Masolo, Swift code: CCBPFRPP. This swift code is necessary for international transfers to the BIAC.

Author — duckrabbit

duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.

Discussion (6 Comments)

  1. David White says:

    Difficult, isn’t it. Because of the opaque nature of the selection process, it can now be argued that we are influencing the selection by showing the awesome Bright Brass. I would put £50 on it not having been seen by whoever does whatever in relation to the WPP mm contest. (The authors are not even able to bring it to the attention of the judges.) You could well argue that that is the fault of the authors. You may have a point, but even if it were a valid one, anonymity/lack of publicity/publication should not preclude work of any quality, let alone that quality, from being entered and considered. It certainly does not in the stills contest. Often you have to look damn hard to find treasure. I do understand however the obvious logistical nightmare of watching every piece entered into an open competition. The jury cannot spend the same average amount of time (1 second I believe) looking at MM as they can stills. At the same time however, they won’t be getting 100’s of 1000’s of entries either.

    • duckrabbit says:

      I agree David but they could showcase all the work and have some system for sorting the wheat from the chaff. Look at how the Prix Pictet is done. They have a massive group of nominators, all up on the website.

  2. David White says:

    Absolutely…there are ways to accommodate numerous entries. We touched on this before. That is needed I think. Personally I think a one vote, one i.p address rule on a public site is the way to move. But I’m sure that that can be subverted….ie getting all your mates to vote etc etc…
    Maybe a year long public website, one vote, one i.p, leading 100 are watched at end of year by judges, a list of whom is published. But you know, it’s not my competition.

    • duckrabbit says:

      But you know even if its subverted a little, well you can have a judging panel and a public forum.

      Or why not just do a test. Public and private … compare results. It would be fascinating.

      Did Ed come back?

  3. iamnotasuperstarphotogrpher says:

    the public versus private challenge?

    oh my duckrabbit… what a great idea!

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