Television: News and Current Affairs Camerawork Winners

Neil Harms and David Ollier, World News, SBS, “East Timor Crisis”

Cameraman Neil Harms flew into Dili Airport with reporter Garry McNab just hours after Australian troops had secured its perimeter. Entering the city, he filmed the first of a series of packages documenting Dili’s plunge into anarchy and chaos.
A week later, fellow cameraman David Ollier took over to complement SBS’s overall coverage of the crisis.

Together the pair produced powerful and dynamic camerawork and packages that helped give an insight into the political machinations and human impact of the East Timor crisis. The pair cut stories on a portable edit pack from their hotel and were the only Australian crew to gain access to Xanana Gusmao’s emotional address to police and the first to film looting of the government depot.

Neil Harms is a camera operator and editor with 20 years’ experience in television news. Based in Canberra’s parliamentary press gallery, he travels extensively for SBS.

David Ollier began his career at the ABC in 1992. He has since freelanced and worked at the Seven Network, before taking his full-time role at SBS in 2000.

Judges’ comments
This is the work of seasoned professional cinematographers filmed under difficult circustances. It’s powerful and emotive
and highly original. Working with a tight timeframe and cutting every night, they tag-teamed during the crisis to portray the sense of drama and violence in East Timor.