The Great Land Rush looked at the global forces working to buy up land in several nations in the global south, and the local conflicts that produced. The individual stories, covering Ethiopia, Myanmar and Indonesia, were told with visually striking photography, gifs, videos, and interactive graphics. In notes accompanying the award, SABEW judges said the series “gave its audience a bit of everything — a tale with epic sweep (‘from Myanmar to Saskatchewan’), parallax-scrolling web pages, graphics, maps, photos, videos, and a podcast. Even the writing was a visual feast.” Individual FT journalists Tom Burgis, Pilita Clark and Michael Peel were named in the award.
Frozen Dreams: Russia’s Arctic Obsession was produced under the banner of FT Features, which has also made films investigating the illegal wildlife trade and Chinese migration. Frozen Dreams looked at the special place the far northern parts of Russia have in its national imagination, and the often hard lives lived by its residents in inhospitable environments. The judges said the film, “represents the best of digital video. It is more than informative. It’s illuminating.” FT journalists Kathrin Hille, Vanessa Kortekaas, Steve Ager and Russell Birkett received the award.