PUMA.Creative Announces "The End of the Line" as Winner of Inaugural PUMA.Creative Impact Award for Documentary Film

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11 Oct, 2011, 23:30 GMT

LONDON, October 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- "Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country" Granted an Unpredicted Jury Commendation for its Social Impact

Today PUMA.Creative and the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced "The End of the Line" as the winner of the inaugural PUMA.Creative Impact Award. This annual €50,000 award, a first of its kind in the industry, has been launched to identify and honor the documentary film that has made the most significant positive impact on society. "Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country" was unexpectedly awarded a Special Commendation for its social impact and a €25,000 prize.

     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20111011/486848 )

Commenting on the PUMA.Creative Impact Award winner, Jochen Zeitz, CEO Sport & Lifestyle Group and CSO of PPR and Chairman of the Board of PUMA, said, "I would like to congratulate "The End of the Line" on becoming the first winner of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award. At PUMA, we believe that corporations have a responsibility and opportunity to contribute to a better world for generations to come. Documentary film is such an influential medium because it allows the public to emotionally connect with the subject matter. We hope that with the PUMA.Creative Impact award we can help to inspire positive change in the world."

The shortlist of five finalists, derived from 70 submitted documentaries also includes "The Age of Stupid", "The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court" and "Trouble the Water" and were judged by an elite jury: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Morgan Spurlock, Orlando Bagwell, Emmanuel Jal, and Loretta Minghella OBE.

The winning documentary, "The End of the Line", was the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on the world's oceans and has been widely acclaimed as a wake-up call. Filmed over two years, following investigative reporter Charles Clover,  "The End of the Line" provides a firsthand analysis of the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.

Rupert Murray, Director of "The End of The Line" comments, "Documentary filmmakers are unique in that we want to change the world; we want to make things better, which is why it is fantastic to win the PUMA.Creative Impact Award. This is an award that truly understands and recognises our investment."

"Burma VJ" was honored with a Special Commendation by the jury for its unique approach to documenting and broadcasting the Burma monks uprising against the military regime in September 2007 at a time when all foreign media were banned from the country. The bravery of the filmmakers has inspired a new generation of VJs (Video Journalist) and independent journalists within Burma.

Looking beyond the production budget, artistic content and directorial talents, each film was uniquely assessed for its social impact, including how the film had:

  • Increased awareness of an issue
  • Created political and corporate impact or change in a corporate policy
  • Provided an effective fundraising tool
  • Forged new partnerships in civil society
  • Showed positive impact on a community
  • Changed attitudes and behaviours

An in-depth programme about the finalist films and the PUMA.Creative Impact Award will be broadcasted on Current TV on Saturday 22nd October: UK (9pm GMT and US 6pm EST).

For more information regarding:

The PUMA.Creative Impact Award, visit: http://www.britdoc.org/impactaward.

For press materials/images, visit: http://puma.digitalnewsagency.com.