Calgary Herald’s ‘Life with Emily’ documentary a finalist for international media award

The Calgary Herald has been named a finalist in a prestigious international media awards competition for a 2016 project called Without Limits: Kids With Special Needs.

Our Special Children. Taking a break from lunch, 7 year old Emily Pitchers reaches out to give a pat on the cheek to one of her favourite educational assistants Karen Gutfriend at Emily Follensbee School. Christina Ryan, Calgary Herald

The Calgary Herald, March 6, 2017

A 40-minute documentary — created by Postmedia photojournalists/videographers Christina Ryan, Kerianne Sproule and Leah Hennel — was a centrepiece of the project. It has been nominated by the International News Media Association (INMA) in the category “Best Use of Video” in the organization’s annual awards competition.

The project, published in March, introduced readers to the world of children with special needs, through a series of articles, powerful images, short videos and the compelling documentary.

Without Limits: Kids With Special Needs was initiated by Ryan, who documented the honest and inspirational journey of being a parent to a special needs child. She and a team of Calgary Postmedia journalists (which included Annalise Klingbeil, Doug Hintz and Shannon LeClair) also told the stories of other families facing similar situations and how various therapies are assisting them in leading enriched lives.

The documentary is also being featured this Friday at a local high school theatre to raise money for music therapy programs for students with special needs. The ‘Life with Music’ fundraiser at Central High School on March 10 is open to the public.

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The documentary will compete against offerings from Australia and Sweden in the INMA competition. More than 655 entries were received in this competition from 36 countries.

Source The Calgary Herald