the judges thought konate's footage was extraordinary. the human cost of war, no matter which side you're on. in early 2019, after years of conflict in northeast syria, the us—backed syrian democratic forces pushed islamic state group to the brink of total defeat. the remaining is fighters were waiting out their days in a cluster of tiny villages nestled between the euphrates river and the iraqi border. for this assignment, cameraman mikhail galustov and his vice news team embedded with an spf unit in a deserted farmhouse on the deir al—zouri front line. they were with a group of kurdish people's protection fighters and a number of foreign volunteers who travelled thousands of miles for a final fight. but, the last die—hard is fighters weren't giving up. i got two bodies moving left. galustov captured the fierce exchange of fire between the two groups. he's coming our way! i kept the camera rolling. some of the sniper and rocket fire came very close. it was scary. further north, american forces and sdf intelligence officers comb through t

in april 2019, mikel konate reported on the plight of the men, women, and children in northeast syriaeing islamic state's self—declared caliphate in its final days. the al—hol camp sheltered more than 70,000 displaced people, most of them women and children abandoned by the jihadist fighters. i had worked in afghanistan for a while... first it is the people are locked in. they have no freedom of movement. it is more like a jail than a camp. and of course, they're mostly families from the islamic state. so you always observe how people welcome your presence before you start to shoot. the situation inside the camp was deteriorating day by day with the lack of food and medicines making living conditions impossible. malnourished babies were rushed from the battlefield to a crowded clinic where medical staff did their best to save their lives. those in critical condition travelled for two hours on a bumpy road to a hospital for treatment. konate managed to gain the trust of those fleeing and they shared their stories of suffering and survival. among them, a young woman who was forced to fo