The situation in Gaza, one year after the start of the war and at a time when bombardments are raging in the Middle East, as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will be at the heart of the 31st Bayeux Award for War Correspondents, which starts on Monday.
“Never have so many journalists died during a conflict as in Gaza over the past year, whether they were working or not,” says programmer Aurélie Viel.
Fifty-two reports have been selected from 400 applicants, according to Viel. Some 350 war reporters will be in Bayeux this year to present their exhibits, host debates or screenings, or simply give their personal accounts.
Like every year, one of the highlights of the week will be the inauguration on Thursday of a new stele in tribute to reporters killed in the line of duty over the past year. This year’s addition will include 58 names, listed by Reporters sans Frontières (RSF).
An olive tree will be planted in the memorial garden in tribute to all Palestinian journalists killed outside the line of duty during the Gaza conflict.
The stele will bear the name of Issam Abdallah, a Reuters journalist killed on October 13, 2023 by an Israeli tank on the Israeli-Lebanese border. This strike wounded six other journalists, including two from AFP, Christina Assi and Dylan Collins, who will be present in Bayeux.
AFP's Gaza bureau chief Adel al-Zaanoun will also be in Normandy alongside several of the agency's journalists competing for text, photo and video awards. According to the official program, he will bear witness to “what it has become” to be a journalist “in times of war.”
AFP's Gaza office was severely damaged on November 2, 2023, by a strike that caused no casualties. The agency's journalists had evacuated Gaza City on October 13, when the Israeli army issued an evacuation order to all civilians in the city.
“We're not forgetting the Ukraine or other conflicts,” said Bayeux mayor Patrick Gomont when presenting the festival program.
Works on Afghanistan, Iran and a retrospective on the work and lives of journalists during the “fall” of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975 will also be on show.
The winners will be announced on October 12.
In 2023, the awards went to Siegfried Modola (photo, freelance), Anthony Loyd (print, The Times), Maurine Mercier (radio, RTS - France Info) and CNN (TV).
With AFP
Comments