Undercurrents wins award
JVC | 26.03.2003 16:38
Festival 2003, it’s 25th anniversary year. Paul O’Connor from Oxford was
awarded his TVF 2003 Award for his video documentary Globalisation and the Media.
awarded his TVF 2003 Award for his video documentary Globalisation and the Media.
For Immediate Release:
Film documentary wins top award for exploring the role of the media in reporting conflict
UK winner at the 25th annual JVC Tokyo Video Festival
JVC (UK) Ltd. is pleased to announce a UK winner at the JVC Tokyo Video
Festival 2003, it’s 25th anniversary year. Paul O’Connor from Oxford was
awarded his TVF 2003 Award for his video documentary Globalisation and the
Media.
In his video, Paul questions the uniform reporting provided by television
and other giant mass media outlets, and makes the case for new media that is
able to continue to provide images from independent perspectives. The
investigations offer a valuable insight into how people with camcorders are
offering a perspective to stories that the mainstream news doesn't. Paul is
currently filming in the Middle East for another documentary (see below for
his biography and links to images).
This year the judges reviewed a record breaking 2,386 submissions from 38
countries and regions (935 from Japan, 1,451 from other countries). The
Announcement and Awards Ceremony was held at "The Garden Hall" in Ebisu,
Tokyo.
Background information
The JVC Tokyo Video Festival started in 1978 and is the longest-running
international, public participation video festival in the world. The
festival is open to professionals and amateurs alike, and has an
international reputation as a “forum for cultural and human exchange in the
video medium”.
The festival is open to amateurs, professionals, individuals, and groups of
any nationality. Video compositions must be produced with a video camera.
Playback time must not exceed 20 minutes. Any subject matter is acceptable.
Since it’s opening in 1978, some 37,000 works from more than eighty
countries and regions have entered the contest.
All of the winners in this year’s TVF 2003 competition are marked by greater
emphasis on social concerns than any other year in the festival's history,
with many works focusing on such subjects as the grey society, terrorism and
the environment.
Works depicting family, friendship, community and other aspects of human
relations were also prominent as were works providing new insights into the
continuation of traditional culture. Advances in IT have also brought
increasing use of advanced computer graphics and animation.
Winner's Biography
Paul O’ Connor- Director
underc@gn.apc.org
www.undercurrents.org
www.undercurrents.org/photos.html
Born in Dublin, Ireland
In London 1993 he co-founded the award winning Undercurrents, a non-profit
alternative news service producing distributing videos chronicling the
non-violent direct action protest movement in Britain. Undercurrents is a
platform for people to make their own high quality reports on environmental
and social justice issues from a grassroots perspective using domestic
camcorders.
He writes extensively for newspapers and books on video activism ( the use
of video for social change). Paul has trained campaigners in Romania, the
Middle East, Europe, USA, Australia, Nepal and South Korea. He has directed
a number of progressive documentaries for television and sells his archive
images of protests to broadcasters worldwide
He is a committed activist and takes part in destroying fields of GM crops,
as well as organising protests against intrusive state surveillance and
against destructive road building .He has lived in trees to save them from
destruction and has been arrested for his concerns. He has raised numerous
funds for the marginalized to produce their own news. He now lives in
Oxford, Britain growing his own organic food.
He is currently co-producing the Beyond TV video activist festival.
Notable documentaries by Paul O'Connor
Breaking News- award winning documentary exploring how the police are
controlling the news agenda.
Holtsfield- how a rural community saved their idyllic and environmentally
friendly dwellings from destruction by using radical direct action protest.
If I had a Hammer- Exploring the story of how four women disarmed British
war-planes sold to Indonesia using household hammers.
Major Resistance - directed 2x 30minute programmes exploring dissent in
Britain. Broadcast on Channel 4
Alt World- directed an investigation into the arrests of journalists in
Britain. Broadcast on Channel 4 2001
Globalisation and the Media- how the mass media shape public opinion.
-ends-
JVC Press Information Contact: Lucy Jakes and Jeffrey Hyland, JVC (UK) Ltd.
Tel. 020 8208 7623/7566 Email. lucyj@jvc.co.uk or
jeffreyh@jvc.co.uk
Website: www.jvc.co.uk
Film documentary wins top award for exploring the role of the media in reporting conflict
UK winner at the 25th annual JVC Tokyo Video Festival
JVC (UK) Ltd. is pleased to announce a UK winner at the JVC Tokyo Video
Festival 2003, it’s 25th anniversary year. Paul O’Connor from Oxford was
awarded his TVF 2003 Award for his video documentary Globalisation and the
Media.
In his video, Paul questions the uniform reporting provided by television
and other giant mass media outlets, and makes the case for new media that is
able to continue to provide images from independent perspectives. The
investigations offer a valuable insight into how people with camcorders are
offering a perspective to stories that the mainstream news doesn't. Paul is
currently filming in the Middle East for another documentary (see below for
his biography and links to images).
This year the judges reviewed a record breaking 2,386 submissions from 38
countries and regions (935 from Japan, 1,451 from other countries). The
Announcement and Awards Ceremony was held at "The Garden Hall" in Ebisu,
Tokyo.
Background information
The JVC Tokyo Video Festival started in 1978 and is the longest-running
international, public participation video festival in the world. The
festival is open to professionals and amateurs alike, and has an
international reputation as a “forum for cultural and human exchange in the
video medium”.
The festival is open to amateurs, professionals, individuals, and groups of
any nationality. Video compositions must be produced with a video camera.
Playback time must not exceed 20 minutes. Any subject matter is acceptable.
Since it’s opening in 1978, some 37,000 works from more than eighty
countries and regions have entered the contest.
All of the winners in this year’s TVF 2003 competition are marked by greater
emphasis on social concerns than any other year in the festival's history,
with many works focusing on such subjects as the grey society, terrorism and
the environment.
Works depicting family, friendship, community and other aspects of human
relations were also prominent as were works providing new insights into the
continuation of traditional culture. Advances in IT have also brought
increasing use of advanced computer graphics and animation.
Winner's Biography
Paul O’ Connor- Director
underc@gn.apc.org www.undercurrents.org
www.undercurrents.org/photos.html
Born in Dublin, Ireland
In London 1993 he co-founded the award winning Undercurrents, a non-profit
alternative news service producing distributing videos chronicling the
non-violent direct action protest movement in Britain. Undercurrents is a
platform for people to make their own high quality reports on environmental
and social justice issues from a grassroots perspective using domestic
camcorders.
He writes extensively for newspapers and books on video activism ( the use
of video for social change). Paul has trained campaigners in Romania, the
Middle East, Europe, USA, Australia, Nepal and South Korea. He has directed
a number of progressive documentaries for television and sells his archive
images of protests to broadcasters worldwide
He is a committed activist and takes part in destroying fields of GM crops,
as well as organising protests against intrusive state surveillance and
against destructive road building .He has lived in trees to save them from
destruction and has been arrested for his concerns. He has raised numerous
funds for the marginalized to produce their own news. He now lives in
Oxford, Britain growing his own organic food.
He is currently co-producing the Beyond TV video activist festival.
Notable documentaries by Paul O'Connor
Breaking News- award winning documentary exploring how the police are
controlling the news agenda.
Holtsfield- how a rural community saved their idyllic and environmentally
friendly dwellings from destruction by using radical direct action protest.
If I had a Hammer- Exploring the story of how four women disarmed British
war-planes sold to Indonesia using household hammers.
Major Resistance - directed 2x 30minute programmes exploring dissent in
Britain. Broadcast on Channel 4
Alt World- directed an investigation into the arrests of journalists in
Britain. Broadcast on Channel 4 2001
Globalisation and the Media- how the mass media shape public opinion.
-ends-
JVC Press Information Contact: Lucy Jakes and Jeffrey Hyland, JVC (UK) Ltd.
Tel. 020 8208 7623/7566 Email.
lucyj@jvc.co.uk or jeffreyh@jvc.co.uk Website: www.jvc.co.uk
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