The Hinzpeter Awards: Interacting with the world and reflecting on ourselves

Junyoung Rah,
president of the Korea Video Journalist Association

In March 2021, the Korea Video Journalist Association and the May 18 Foundation embarked on the first Hinzpeter Awards with more worries and fears of failure than excitement for success. In the spirit of the German video journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter, who documented the truth and the stories that he encountered in Gwangju in May 1980 and shared them with the world, it was a risky adventure to create the first international journalism awards in Korea. These awards are meant to embody the spirit and achievements of the “democracy, human rights, and peace” that the people of Gwangju and Korea have been pursuing since the May 18 Democratic Uprising.

I recall the first organizing committee meeting in 2021. We gathered with the mission of launching Korea’s first international journalism awards. However, our thoughts on international journalism awards were based on the images from international press that reported the news of journalism awards abroad such as the Pulitzer Prize, or documentaries or fiction films that illustrated the stories of winners, and we were talking about what we wanted at an abstract level.

Therefore, the international competition, the composition of domestic and international jury committees, the invitations to the winners, and the format of the award ceremony involved struggles and constant revisions to create a new framework for tasks that our society had not previously done. After two years of evolution, we’ve managed to develop the prize from imagination to reality, and this November, the Hinzpeter Awards and accompanying special events will mark the third celebration of the winners.

Greeting the third year, the Hinzpeter Prize is awarded to those who have captured the stories and voices of people on the front. This is done through an international call for submissions and a selection process in competitive and non-competitive categories. The vivid realities that the winners documented were even more intense than summer 2023’s scorching heat.

Winners of the grand prize, The World at a Crossroads Award, are Gesbeen Mohammad (based in the UK), Aleksandra Odynova (Russia), Vasily Kolotilov (Russia), and Yri Mikhailovich (Russia, pseudonym). The four journalists collected materials and made reports; “Inside Russia: Putin’s War at Home” presents fearless footage and interviews that document the crisis of democracy in Russia, where opposition to the Russia-Ukraine war and critical voices against Putin government’s policies have been labeled “fake news” and “unpatriotic.”

Winners of the Award for News category, Ben C. Solomon (USA), Adam Desiderio (USA), and Julia Kochetova (Ukraine) made a field report titled “The Battle of Bakhmut.” In the Bakhmut region, which has become the frontline of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the journalists followed the deadly battles that are still happening on a daily basis, as well as the people who are trying to protect their hometowns amidst the destruction of most of the city. It conveys the two-sided nature of war: One should fight to defend their community, and one should also foster peace to ensure the community thrives.

Winners of Awards for Features are Carol Valade and Clement Di Roma (France). The two journalists carried on the legacy of their colleagues, who lost their lives while covering the same issue, by creating “Russian Soft Power in the CAR.” Many African countries have experienced a long history of colonization by Western countries, and the political and economic influence of colonial rule has continued even after independence, prompting deepening ethnic and religious tensions and frustrating opportunities for democratic development. Through their coverage of the Central African Republic, the two journalists reveal another imperialist act by Russia and its proxy, the Wagner group, and its ties to political forces, cultural propaganda, and incitement, as well as efforts to repeat Africa’s tragic historical experience.

The non-competition category, the May Gwangju Award, announces its winners: Vladimir Schewtchenco, Yuriy Bordakov, Vladimir Taranchenko, and Viktor Kripchenko. These four journalists from Soviet-era Ukraine Central Television risked radiation exposure to document the most horrific nuclear disaster in human history, the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, using their cameras to share the truth with the world. The documentation of the unprecedented nuclear disaster, for which they risked their lives, has become a valuable historical record to identify the causes and responsibilities of the accident and to vividly demonstrate the danger and severity of the disaster to all humankind. We also learned from their work that documenting a disaster properly has significant effects on the ability to pinpoint the disaster’s causes and find resolutions.

The Hinzpeter Awards recognize and encourage video journalists who sacrifice themselves to tell the truth from the fields of democracy, human rights, and peace around the world. They represent transnational media activism, seeking to listen, communicate, and stand in solidarity with Korean citizens, journalists, and global citizens, aligning with the truth the winners present and the stories told by the protagonists of their works. For this purpose, we are not only selecting and awarding prizes, but also looking for concrete ways to engage and connect with the winners and the citizens of Korea and beyond.

Last May, the Gwangju Democracy Forum organized a seminar with the winners of the first Hinzpeter Awards. The topics were “What role should video journalism and the media play to change the world?” and “What kind of efforts should Korean journalists make in the field of international journalism, considering our history of democratization and struggle for press freedom?” As in previous years, this year’s winners are also preparing for a variety of special events in Seoul and Gwangju. They will meet with Korean journalists and citizens before and after the awards ceremony to talk about the messages of their works, why we should care about the issues, and how we can collaborate to solve problems.

We believe that through these steps, the Hinzpeter Awards can evolve not only as journalism awards but also as another transnational civic movement in our era that globalizes the May 18 spirit and further advances with the changing times.

We also believe that the goal of this award is not to recognize Korea’s achievements, but to reflect on how democracy, human rights, peace, and press freedom are functioning in Korea with “other Hinzpeters” and their stories. We believe that it should be a platform for us to think about how we can make these four values stronger and healthier. With your participation, we truly hope that the 2023 Hinzpeter Awards and special events will grow into a larger international journalism event and a transnational social movement by listening to the truth of our time, reflecting on it, and thinking about progress together.