2016 Visionary Award shortlist

Six extraordinary projects are shortlisted for the 2016 Visionary Award from the Tim Hetherington Trust, representing a divers range of inspired creative approaches and tackling significant contemporary issues from China, Africa, North and Central America.  The review panel comprising leading experts in documentary filmmaking, photojournalism and new media were drawn to work by practiced media figures and first-time storytellers, each with something remarkable to say.

All six shortlisted projects will be showcased on Tuesday 19th April at the Frontline Club in London and the final awardee will be announced.

Survivors : A film by Banker White, Arthur Pratt and Anna Fitch

Through the eyes of Sierra Leonean filmmaker Arthur Pratt, Survivors presents a heart-connected portrait of his country during the Ebola outbreak, exposing the complexity of the epidemic and the socio-political turmoil that lies in its wake.  The film chronicles the remarkable stories of two Sierra Leonean health-care workers during what is now regarded as the most acute public health crisis  of the modern era.

The Backs Of Men : A reportage by Dominic Bracco II

The Backs Of Men is a portrait of the modern American frontier.  Set in the borderlands of Texas, Mexico and the killing fields of Honduras, this project breaks down the physical and societal borders we place around ourselves.  Bracco was raised in the US/Mexico border region and for the last six years has worked as a documentary photographer covering violence, migration and corruption to produce an intimate and searing transmedia study expressed in theater, a mixed media installation, virtual reality and a printed book.

Camera Kids – Our Letter To Roz­ : A film by 3 orphans of the Rwandan genocide

Gadi, Mussa, and Bizimana are three orphans of the Rwandan genocide.  They are best friends. They are skilled photographers.  Together, they make a remarkable journey to retrace the lives of the other 97 orphans they lived with like brothers and sisters for nearly twenty years. What they discover as they criss-cross the globe is that their experiences are a metaphor for Rwanda itself, and combine for a moving tribute to Roz, the woman who became their mother.

Here And Now : An experimental film by Iram Ghufran

Yiwu City in Zhejiang province of south China is one of the largest markets and production centres for small plastic commodities in the world. The city attracts traders from across the global South and reflects a highly accelerated contemporaneity of our time. Set in the ‘foreign enclave’ of Yiwu and in the Futian Market, “Here, And Now” is the story of fleeting encounters and brewing revolutions under the shadow of transnational capitalism in China. The film set in an indeterminate future, combines the genre of documentary realism with science fiction and explores this complex manufacturing and trading landscape as a laboratory of our ‘post human’ future.

Keeper Of Walls : A multi discipline study by Kamelah Janan Rasheed

Based on her personal history of homelessness with her family’s bodies and memories fragmented across shelters, motels and homes of relatives, Keeper Of Walls explores self-representation and memory preservation in African American communities.  With over 1,500 found photographs the project documents the ways in which African Americans have used the walls of their homes as curated gallery spaces to tell personal histories and larger social histories that are not represented elsewhere.  The project will comprise a digital archive, documentary photographs of domestic walls, an installation and public programming to explore a hitherto unseen visual history.

Flint Is A Place : A transmedia project by Zackary Canepari

Flint is a place is a cross platform episodic documentary series about Flint, Michigan. The project seeks to document a specific moment within this American city in an intimate, character driven way.  Each episode focuses on a character, story or theme using different storytelling tools. Mixing video, photo, audio, archival materials, graphic design, virtual reality, data visualization and public installation the resulting interactive online & physical project is an immersive take on a unique and relevant place.