Six multimedia productions have been selected as the finalists of the first ever World Press Photo Multimedia Contest. Chaired by photojournalist Ed Kashi, the jury, which included Claudine Boeglin of Thomson Reuters Foundation, Andrew DeVigal of The New York Times, Frontline News Service's Kang Kyung-ran and photographer Gideon Mendel, was charged with selecting three finalists in two categories - linear and interactive productions.

In the linear category, VII Photo's Stefano De Luigi has been nominated for Blanco, the result of a four-year journey delving into the life of the visually impaired in 16 countries around the world. [View the multimedia presentation on the VII Magazine website].

Also nominated are The Home Front by Marcus Yam, Nancy Donaldson, Catrin Einhorn and Meaghan Looram for The New York Times; and A Man in the Forest
By Lei Wang.

In the interactive productions category, the finalists are Powering the Nation by Mike Ehrlich, Jessey Dearing, Lauren Frohne and Elena Rue from The University North Carolina at Chapel Hill; A Year at War by Damon Winter and Marcus Yam for The New York Times; and Prison Valley by Philippe Brault, David Dufresne, Alexandre Brachet and Gregory Trowbridge for Arte.

"The nominated work was judged on its impact and editing, as well as its originality and innovative execution," says World Press Photo. "The productions must have a journalistic storyline and still imagery must play a significant role in telling the story.

Ed Kashi adds: "The entries represented a growing geographical scope of productions and a broad range of production techniques and narrative approaches, which indicate very positive trends for the future development of multimedia."

First, second and third prizes in each category will be announced during the World Press Photo Awards Ceremony on 7 May 2011. First prizes will be awarded a cash award of €5000.

All six productions can be viewed on the World Press Photo website at www.worldpressphoto.org.