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

“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” Granted an Unpredicted Jury Commendation for its Social Impact

London, UK, October 11, 2011 – 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 have 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.

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. Positive change only happens if people do something. 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 documentaries that also includes “The Age of Stupid”, “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court” and “Trouble the Water” were judged by an elite jury: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Morgan Spurlock (Academy Award-nominated Director of “Super Size Me”), Orlando Bagwell (Director of the JustFilms initiative at the Ford Foundation), Emmanuel Jal (musician and activist), and Loretta Minghella OBE. This shortlist was derived from 70 submitted documentaries, which each showed a rich standard of social impact. The films cover topics ranging from environmental issues to social justice and global conflict, and all five documentaries have enlightened and inspired individuals about global concerns.

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. The film was selected for the PUMA.Creative Impact Award because it tells a magnificently crafted message of global importance, compelling its audience to have a more responsible attitude towards the ocean, purposed to invoke a positive change.

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 - I mean I nearly died in a fishing net in Peru, getting shots of some anchovies - to change behaviour for the greater good.”

Filmed over two years, “The End of the Line” provides a firsthand analysis of the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. Following investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, the documentary reveals the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation. The film had such a significant effect that many supermarkets and consumer brands have now committed to using only sustainably-sourced fish. Ultimately, this film has brought about a long-lasting positive change in both consumer and corporate behaviour.

“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 who are continuing to impact change through the documentation of the oppression they face to this day as a tool of civil action for democracy.

The Jury commented on “Burma VJ” and its impact, saying, “This film stood out for the intensity with which it captured the selfless courage of those who stand up to power. Its impact will be felt way beyond its immediate geographical and political context, to inspire and strengthen the resolve of everyone who fights for a fairer world, today and in the years to come.”

The juror panel convened in London, on 6th September to select the PUMA.Creative Impact Award winner from the five finalists. Looking beyond the production budget, artistic content and directorial talents, each film was uniquely assessed for its social impact, recognized through data and various markers, 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

The PUMA.Creative Impact Award is one of six awards and programmes made possible through a partnership between PUMA.Creative and Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation.

For more information regarding:

The PUMA.Creative Impact Award, visit: impactaward.

For press materials/images, visit: .

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).

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Media Contacts:

Mary Mitchell, mary.mitchell@ +44 203 047 2108

Elise McCave, elise@ +44 207 534 9621

Danielle Marcus, danielle.marcus@ +1 617 488 0009

Editors Notes

Peer Review Committee

Finalists were selected by the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation following consultation with an independent Peer Review Committee led by: Isabel Arrate at the Jan Vrijman Fund, Pat Aufderheide and Angelica Das at the Center for Social Media at American University, Diana Barrett at the Fledgling Fund, Carol Cone of Edelman, Heidi Gronauer at EsoDoc, Karolina Lidin at Nordic Film Fund, Isabelle Schwarz and Shreela Gosh at European Cultural Foundation, and Sally-Ann Wilson at the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.

Five Finalists

The Age of Stupid

Follows the journey of a man living in 2055 watching archive footage of the worlds history, asking ‘Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?’

Director: Franny Armstrong, Producer: Lizzie Gillett

Impact Highlights:

Launched the 10:10 Global campaign in 46 countries, with over 100,000 individuals signing up, alongside corporations and government departments, pledging to cut 10% of their carbon emissions in a year.

Burma VJ

Undercover video journalists in Burma keep up the flow of news from their closed country, smuggling it out of Burma and broadcasting back via satellite at the risk of being captured and tortured.

Director: Anders Østergaard, Producer: Lise Lense-Møller

Impact Highlights:

With an estimated 30 million viewers, this documentary put Burma and its oppressive ruling firmly on the international news radar.

The End of the Line

Focuses on the devastating effects there could be on the planet if we continue to plunder the world’s oceans without respect or foresight.

Director: Rupert Murray, Producers: Claire Lewis & George Duffield

Impact Highlight:

Biggest achievement to date has been the success of The Blue Marine Foundation, which through a single screening of the film, secured £3.5 million in funding to cover the policing of the new Marine Protected Area in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court

Director: Pamela Yates, Producer: Paco de Onís

A battle unfolds as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators, and world superpowers in his struggle to tame the Wild West of global conflict zones and bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice.

Impact Highlight:

This film is used extensively in education programs including a 2-week ‘Teach the Reckoning’ workshop bringing together 700 educators from 70 countries representing a network of over 25,000 high school teachers.

Trouble the Water

An aspiring rap artist, trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, survives the disaster and seizes a chance for a new beginning. Celebrating community resilience in the face of massive government failures, this film raises searing questions about race and class in America.

Director-Producers: Tia Lessin & Carl Deal

Impact Highlight:

Repeatedly used in strategic political campaigning; from raising a 20,000-strong letter campaign to the speaker of the House of Representatives, to strategic screenings at the national Democratic and Republican conventions.

Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation

The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation is a not-for-profit title sponsored by Channel 4

Television and supported by a number of Foundations both in the UK and the USA. Since 2005, our mission has been to build a creatively ambitious and diverse future for documentary. We do this by creating brilliant films and engaging new partners to ensure that those films have lasting global impact.

The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation has in its first 6 years, co-funded and produced over sixty documentaries—films that have won audience awards at Sundance, SXSW, Berlin, Tribeca, and Edinburgh Film Festivals. Titles include: Hell And Back Again, Afghan Star, The End of The Line, We Are Together, Dragonslayer and The Yes Men Fix The World. The resulting films have been shown around the world on C4, Arte, and HBO and released by EMI, Dogwoof and Warners in cinemas and on DVD. In addition to our UK Production Fund, The Foundation recently announced a major new partnership with PUMA.Creative which includes numerous International Development awards open to filmmakers all over the world, and the PUMA.Creative Impact Award—an annual prize honoring the documentary film which has created the most significant impact. For more information please visit .

PUMAVision

At PUMA, we believe that our position as the creative leader in Sportlifestyle gives us the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to a better world for the generations to come. A better world in our vision—PUMAVision—would be safer, more peaceful, and more creative than the world we know today. The 4Keys is the tool we have developed to help us stay true to PUMAVision, and we use it by constantly asking ourselves if we are being Fair, Honest, Positive, and Creative in everything we do.

We believe that by staying true to our 4Keys, inspiring the passion and talent of our people, working in sustainable, innovative ways, and doing our best to be Fair, Honest, Positive, and Creative, we will keep on making the products our customers love, and at the same time bring that vision of a better world a little closer every day. PUMAVision looks ahead to a world that is safer, more peaceful and more creative for the generations to come. Through the programs of PUMA.Safe (focusing on environmental and social issues), PUMA.Peace (supporting global peace) and PUMA.Creative (supporting artists and creative organizations), we are providing real and practical expressions of this vision. For more information, please visit .

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