The Voyager Media Awards has announced the 2023 winners with Still Here taking home the Best Video Documentary Series title. Congratulations to DEGANZ members Josh Yong and Frangipani Foulks who are credited as editor and assistant editor respectively. Josh was also the series’ associate producer.
Still Here tells stories of Pasifika communities residing in Auckland’s Ponsonby, Herne Bay, and Grey Lynn suburbs. The four-episode documentary series captures the families’ lifestyles that keep their traditions alive. By remaining in their family houses, they fight rampant gentrification daily. In each episode, the intergenerational community stories debunk the myth that ‘all the islanders have left.’ They are still here and visible.
As the judges of the awards said,
These intimate portraits (of the locals) are a rich intersection of the past and present that conveys with nuance what it means to be Pacifica in New Zealand.
The Voyager Media Awards acknowledges the best of New Zealand’s journalism. The awards, formally known as the Qantas Press Awards and the Canon Media Awards, aim to celebrate the work of journalists, reporters, feature writers, columnists, cartoonists, reviewers, photographers and video journalists.
All four episodes are out now on TVNZ+.