Bechis honoured at One World Media Awards

Chilean film-maker Marco Bechis picked up the drama award at this year’s One World Media Awards for his feature Birdwatchers, which follows an indigenous tribe in Brazil.

Actress Greta Scacchi presented the director with his prize at the ceremony, which took place in London this evening (22nd). The awards, which have been running since 1988, recognize excellence in media coverage of the developing world.

The jury, which included Scacchi and UK producer Peter Carlton said: “Simple though the story is… in its telling it contains many surprises and a delightful lightness of touch and wit.”

The feature documentary award was split between Lixin Fan’s film Last Train Home about a family taking part in the world’s largest migration when 130 million Chinese workers travelled home for New Year,  and Mexican film Presumed Guilty, about the Mexican penal system, which is co-directed by Geoffrey Smith and Robert Hernandez.

Jamie Doran’s documentary Africa Rising picked up the MDGs Award, which is new this year,  and recognizes coverage that addresses the challenges for international development as laid out by the 2015 Millenium Development Goals.

Narrated by Tilda Swinton, the documentary follows the people of the Sodo region in Ethiopia as they turn their back on Western Aid.

Meanwhile, the Environment Award went to Rupert Murray’s feature documentary TheEnd of the Line, which is about the devastating effect of overfishing.

“I was amazed and excited at the sheer quantity and quality of the feature documentary films we saw,” said Andy Glynne, Director of One World Media. “The submissions from filmmakers from around the world were extraordinary.”