Kurdish photographer wins the 2015 Rory Peck Award

K24--Zmanko Ismael, a photographer from Sulaimani, won the 2015 Port Peck Award for having filmed the exodus of the Yezidis from Mount Sinjar when they escaped the IS attack.

“On the Road with Yazidis Fleeing Islamic State,” documents the terror and displacement that Yezidis endured as the escaped the IS marauders.

This short film also shows the predicament of the families who were stranded on the Shingal Mountain with little or no food and water.

Ismael who has been a photojournalist for ten years traveled the entire route from The Newroz refugee camp in Syria to the Sinjar Mountain and back. He filmed the Yezidis’ long walk under the scorching sun with little access to water or food.

Zmanko now works for Metrography agency as a conflict photographer but prior to this position he was a freelance photojournalist reporting to a variety of media such as Hawal, Aso, Hawlati and Awena News.

The award ceremony that was held on Wednesday in London celebrates the works of freelance camerawomen and cameramen who report “on current affairs in long-form current affairs that examines a single issue, story or situation and has an impact on the viewer.”

Zein al-Rifai from Syria and Heidari Ali from Pakistan were the other two winners of this prestigious prize that is awarded every November. Port Peck Award celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year.