Otelo Burning wins at One World Media Awards

The drama award at this year’s One World Media Awards was scooped by South African film-maker Sara Blecher for her feature, Otelo Burning. Set against a backdrop of the end of Apartheid and gang violence, it tells the story of a group of township kids who discover the joy of surfing.

Director Gurinder Chadha presented producer Kevin Fleischer with the prize at the ceremony, which took place in London last night (8th) at Kings Place and saw Jon Snow return as host.

The Drama Award Jury, tasked with recognizing the film that best communicates issues about the developing world, was chaired by Eve Gabereau, CEO and managing director of Soda Pictures and also included Anne Mensah, head of drama at Sky and Andrew Pulver, film editor at The Guardian.

Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields won both the Television and Documentary Award, the latter sponsored by Malaria Consortium.  Presented by Snow, the Channel 4 special investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka was described by the two juries as “a searing piece of rigorous and unflinching journalism” and “an extraordinary and powerful piece of television testimony that forensically analysed a terrible atrocity and built a compelling case to be answered.”  

The jury pointed to the international impact of the film, forcing the issue onto the international agenda and commended the filmmakers for persisting with the story in the face of systematic opposition.