The World Press Photo Foundation is pleased to present the members of the 2019 Digital Storytelling Contest Jury and Screening Panel.

Anna Lena Mehr, director of contests at the World Press Photo Foundation, says:

“This is a very exciting year for the World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest. For the first time, we are introducing the ‘World Press Photo Interactive of the Year’ and ‘World Press Photo Online Video of the Year’ awards, as well as new awards in the Interactive category, rewarding new forms of creative digital storytelling. We are also thrilled to have the jury in Amsterdam for the final rounds of the judging of the contest. We are looking forward to the choices the screening panel and the jury will make.”

Screening panel

The judging of the 2019 Digital Storytelling Contest takes place over several rounds. The screening panel is the first step in selecting the nominees. From 16 - 27 January, a group of selected multimedia professionals view and score the complete set of entries in their category:

Interactive

• Kylie Boltin, commissioning Editor Online Documentaries at SBS, Australia
• Bjarke Calvin, founder of Ducking and fellow at MIT, Denmark
• Victor Pardinho, researcher and developer, Brazil
  

Long

• Inadelso Cossa, film director and cinematographer, Mozambique
• Luke Moody, director of film programming Sheffield Doc/Fest, UK
• Julie Winokur, executive director Talking Eyes Media, USA

Short

• Emin Özmen, photojournalist, Magnum Photos, Turkey
• Catherine Spangler, supervising producer of video at The New Yorker, USA
• Ligaiya Romero, documentary filmmaker, USA / The Philippines

Jury

From 14-16 February, an independent jury made up of seven digital storytellers and multimedia editors from all around the world will gather in Amsterdam to select the awarded productions.

• Chair: Zahra Rasool, head of Contrast VR – Al Jazeera, India
• Gema Juárez Allen, film producer, Argentina
• Jeremy Boxer, Creative Director/Curator, USA
• David Lemayian, chief technologist at Code for Africa, Kenya
• Zoeann Murphy, video journalist, USA
• Muyi Xiao, visual editor China File, China
• Sara Kolster, interactive director and designer, the Netherlands

Changes to the Interactives prizes

In response to developments in the media and technology, the 2019 Digital Storytelling Contest will adopt a more flexible approach to awards in the Interactive category.

The diversity of formats in this category will be celebrated through three equally-weighted awards in the form of “Best ...”. The jury will decide which productions stand out and then determine which awards to make, such as: Best VR, Best use of AI, Best Webdoc, and any other relevant form. These three awarded productions will have the chance to win the ‘World Press Photo Interactive of the Year’ award.

Winners announced in April 2019

On 20 February, the three nominees for ‘World Press Photo Interactive of the Year’ and the three nominees for ‘World Press Photo Online Video of the Year’ will be announced.

The winners of the ‘World Press Photo Interactive of the Year’ and a ‘World Press Photo Online Video of the Year’ awards will be announced on 11 April during the Awards Show, which will take place in Amsterdam. A 10,000 euro cash prize will be given to the winners of these two major awards.

Together with all the nominees in each category, they will be included in the World Press Photo Contests 2019 yearbook and those World Press Photo 2019 Exhibitions featuring the Digital Storytelling Contest. A representative from each of the nominated productions will also get an invitation, return airfare, and hotel accommodation for the World Press Photo Festival. Read the full description of the awards and categories here.

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