Boushra Elkheir won the Alan Knight Student Award at the annual Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards (PMCA 2022) held in Sydney on Thursday 8 September.
The UTS student won the award for an observational documentary she produced during Sydney’s 2021 lockdown.
Her documentary, How the West Was Lost, provides an exclusive insight into the day-to-day activities of Western Sydney residents who faced the harshest Covid-related restrictions across Greater Sydney.
By showcasing the story through her family, Boushra drew upon the Tale of Two Sydney’s by comparing the state government’s handling of the pandemic in Western Sydney and how it differed with the city’s more affluent eastern and northern suburbs.
Boushra Elkheir, a fourth year Law and Journalism student, produced the 25-minute video as part of her capstone Journalism assignment and was mentored by Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos.
The 21-year-old felt the need to dedicate her assignment to raise awareness about her community’s struggles because she believed that “our voices were not being heard”.
“We had police tackling people to the floor for not wearing masks whereas in the eastern suburbs, police were turning a blind eye to the thousands of people flocking to the beaches.”
“We really felt like second-class citizens for simply living in Western Sydney,” she said.
The fourth-year student was presented the award by UTS academic Dr Kathy Egea, the wife of the late Alan Knight, who was the former head of journalism at UTS.
The award ceremony, held at the Sydney Theatre Company at Dawes Point, was attended by the Premier of NSW, Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Multiculturalism, Mark Coure.
“I’ve been in parliament for 11 years and with my background I didn’t really have a great appreciation until very recently of the importance of multicultural media and communications,” Mr Perrottet told the audience.
“I saw firsthand the role multicultural communications had by providing key health messages to communities right across our state. And the work that many of you here in this room did, I believe, had a lasting impact that we should never forget.”
Full List of Winners
- Best Use of Digital or Social Media – Muslim Women Australia
- Public Interest Award – SBS Insight “Intimate Terrorism”
- Best Text Report – Pawan Luthra, Rajni Anand Luthra
- Agency Campaign of the Year – LOUD and Identity Communications
- Business Campaign of the Year – NSW Department of Customer Service, NSW Health & MHCS, UM/Identity, Etcom
- Community Campaign of the Year – South Eastern Community Connect
- Best Audio Report – National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council (NEMBC MEDIA)
- Best Audio-Visual Report – Plus61J Media
- Publication of the Year – SBS Dari / SBS Pashto
- Young Journalist of the Year – Rhea L Nath
- Life Achievement Award – Mimi Chau / Asian Media Centre
- Alan Knight Student Award – Boushra Elkheir
Comments