RT’S WWII DIGITAL PROJECTS, VIDEO AGENCY RUPTLY IN SHORTY AWARDS FINALS

MOSCOW, APRIL 8, 2020 — RT has made it to the finals of the Shorty Awards — a leading digital and social media competition — in 21 categories. Among this year’s finalists are RT’s video agency RUPTLY, an augmented reality book created by RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project, and RT’s projects dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

RT’s VR film, The Lessons of Auschwitz, which pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army, has been nominated for this year’s Shorty Awards in six categories, including Best in Education, Best Use of Virtual Reality, and Best Use of Storytelling. The film features elements of virtual reality and volumetric video technologies. It has been produced as part of RT’s large-scale social media project #VictoryPages. 

Another selected RT work is the special adoptive font, developed for the #VictoryPages project and based on the handwriting, graffiti, carvings and etchings of the soldiers who left their messages on the fallen Reichstag’s walls in Berlin 75 years ago. It will compete for the award in the Best Brand Identity category.

#Romanovs100 AR Family Photo Album, an augmented reality book created as part of RT’s #Romanovs100 multimedia project that was launched to mark the centenary of the execution of the last Russian royal family, is now competing for the Shorty Awards in six categories, including Best in Education, Most Creative Use of Technology, and Best in Books and News. #Romanovs100, produced in collaboration with the State Archive of Russia, was offered across four platforms — YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Dyatlov Group’s Journal, Last Page, an interactive project launched by RT's RUPTLY multimedia news agency, became a finalist in three categories: Best Integrated Campaign, Best Multi-Platform Campaign, and Best Use of Storytelling. RUPTLY's project was shortlisted alongside entries by Netflix, Sony Pictures Television, Nickelodeon, Universal Pictures and Vice Media. The agency's immersive project is based on the personal diaries and photos of the group of Russian hikers who perished in the Ural Mountains in 1959.

Redfish, an independent journalism project, that is part of RUPTLY, became a finalist in two categories: Best in Social Activism, and Best Use of User-Generated Content. The Redfish team reported on protest movements in France, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and elsewhere on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In 2019, the #Romanovs100 project and the RT360 app for immersive panoramic content won the top prizes at the Shorty Awards. Ruptly broadcasts from the 'yellow vest' protests in France won gold for Best Live News Coverage, beating Bloomberg Media.