Miranda Patrucic
Based in Sarajevo, Miranda Patrucic is an investigative reporter and regional editor for OCCRP focusing on Central Asia, the Balkans and the Caucasus. Highlights of her work include exposing billions in telecom bribes in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, uncovering hidden assets of Azerbaijan’s and Montenegro’s ruling elites, the €1.2 billion arms trade between Europe and Gulf fueling conflicts in the Middle East, and ties between organized crime, government and business in Montenegro. She collaborated with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on a project involving tobacco smuggling, the $4 billion black market in endangered bluefin tuna, Swiss Leaks and Panama Papers. She is the recipient of the Knight International Journalism Award, theGlobal Shining Light Award, IRE Tom Renner Award, the Daniel Pearl Award and European Press Prize. She is much in demand worldwide for training journalists on how to investigate and uncover corruption, money laundering and how to follow the money.
Miranda Patrucic was selected for the 2013 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘The Proxy Platform’, the 2015 shortlist with ‘Unholy Alliances’ and she won the 2015 Special Award with ‘The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’
Michael Obert
Michael Obert is an award-winning German book author and journalist who has been compared with the likes of Bruce Chatwin, Jon Krakauer and Ryszard Kapuscinski.
He reports mainly from Africa and the Middle East and writes for National Geographic, GEO, Sueddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, DIE ZEIT and ZEIT Magazin, and many other prestigious periodicals in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as well for Sunday Times Magazine, GQ France, The Journal (New York), Dagens Næringsliv (Oslo) and Himal Southasian (Katmandu).
Song from the Forest, Obert’s movie debut as a director, had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013 where it won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary. The movie was considered for the Oscars 2016.
As an Africa expert, intercultural trainer and coach, Michael Obert advises politicians, professionals and organizations and gives the African continent a voice in the Western media. In 2017 he founded the Reporter Akademie Berlin.
Michael Obert was selected for the 2013 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘War Report from Somalia’ and for the 2015 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘Boko Haram’.
He won the 2018 Distinguished Reporting Award with ‘The human catcher‘.