Ukrainian Love Story nominated for One World Media Award

The documentary web series is a universal tale of a complex identity crisis in war torn Ukraine

The three part documentary web series, commissioned by Coda stories and distributed by Journeyman pictures has been nominated for a prestigious One World Media Award, under the short film category.

Directed/cinematography/editing by Ross Domoney. Co-Directed by Julia Kochetova-Nabozhniak. Produced by Thomas Burns.

Well done to all the team!

https://www.oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards/longlist-2020/

Hong Kong Wears Black

October 1st was the 70th anniversary of the peoples republic of China. In Hong Kong 1 million people came out on the street to demonstrate against the rule of main land-land China.

Originally published on Roar

The police violence in Hong Kong has intensified, but so has the militancy of the protesters. All dressed in black, they are ready for the confrontation.

Since early June, a huge protest movement has erupted in the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong against the encroaching rule of China. What started as a protest against a controversial amendment to the Extradition Law that could potentially see Hongkongers being extradited to China has since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement. The amendment that triggered the protests has since been shelved, but the protests show no sign of abating,

The extremely violent and disproportionate crackdown by the Hong Kong police forces have in turned sparked a more aggressive and organized resistance from the protesters. The movement’s militant “frontliners” have been inspired by black bloc techniques they picked up online watching videos form past protests in Greece and France.

October 1 was the 70th anniversary of the people’s republic of China. On this occasion, up to one million people came out to protest. Nearly all demonstrators wore black and the frontline was occupied by a black bloc of over 10,000-strong, ready to resist and fight the police. It was the first time that Hong Kong police shot a live round at a protester, taking the crisis to a new level.

Ross Domoney was there with his video camera to capture the day as it unfolded.

My coverage of the Yellow Vest protests in France

Antoine lost his hand during a gilets ​jaunes (yellow vest) protest in Bordeaux. On the same day Patrice lost the sight in his right eye in Paris. They share their stories as the French police come under scrutiny for using explosive weapons against protesters Subscribe to Guardian News on YouTube ► http://bit.ly/guardianwiressub Who are the gilets jaunes?

An extract from a film we are making, about victims of police violence in France, has made it onto the front page of the Guardian.

I also captured the moment where a policeman is about to shoot Yellow Vest protesters with a rubber bullet gun, only to realise one of them is his friend. The video got viewed nearly one million times on twitter.

You can view the clip here.

Bellow is a selection of short films that I shot in Paris amongst the Yellow Vest revolt.

In Paris: clashes, looting and burning happened for a fourth consecutive weekend. Anger at the republics president Emmanuel Macron has bought onto the streets a diverse range of people. A revolt continues to sweep across France as many people believe the economic interests of the government do not represent the majority of the people. A huge police operation was put into place to deal with dissent in Paris. Thousands still managed to protest as the police attacked the mostly peaceful demonstrations.

Students come out in force for a demonstration against the French president Macron in Paris. This came a day after Macron offered reforms to the nation in an attempt to quell the 'Yellow Jacket' uprising which has crippled the country. Many are angered at the high costs of living. The demonstration was once again met with huge police repression.

Act 5 of the Yellow Vest movement saw a fifth weekend of protests, blockades and riots all over France. In Paris demonstrators were mostly peaceful. They were however met with a huge amount of police repression. We spoke to some Yellow Vests on the streets of Paris.