About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Imprisoned and in hiding: Burmese cameramen honoured by Rory Peck Trust Award

This year's Rory Peck Award for features was given to two Burmese cameramen on 19 November for a film about the lives of orphaned child survivors of Cyclone Nargis: "Orphans of Burma's Cyclone". To tell this story, "T" and "Z" risked an instant 30-year sentence if caught.

Six months after finishing the film, "T" was arrested as he came out of an Internet café in Rangoon. After being detained at Insein prison for four months he was told he would be charged with the new offence of filming without government permission, with a minimum prison sentence of 10 years. "Z" is currently hiding out in Thailand.

"T" works for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a non-profit Burmese media organisation. DVB's news is gathered by a network of anonymous, undercover reporters and cameramen. The junta has jailed 13 other DVB cameramen since the Saffron revolution in 2007.

The Rory Peck Trust was established in 1995, two years after freelance cameraman Rory Peck was killed while filming in Moscow. The trust was set up by his wife, Juliet, and close friends to support freelancers and their families.

For more information about other award winners, please see:
Rory Peck Awards 2009