During last season our correspondents around the world went to work with controversial Metropolis topics, such as heavy metal and the penis. The Dutch Metropolis editors fully enjoyed the special, funny and beautiful reports that have been made. We've selected the most impressive reports here, including the juicy details of the production process…
1. A 9-year-old chain-smoker from Indonesia
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Our absolute number one is the 9-year-old smoking addict Ilham. Correspondent Jamal always knows how to gain the trust of his characters. He certainly knows how to deal with kids. This item has it all: we witness a scene at Ilham's home, we talk to his father and to his mother, we walk with Ilham along the streets to watch him begging for cigarette money and in the end we even go to see his therapist. The report looks great; it was the first time Jamal filmed in HD.
2. Bunny-hugging metalheads in Botswana
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On the day of the shoot, headbanger Gunsmoke was nowhere to be found for hours, while the correspondent had to travel five hours to get there. It seems like Gunsmoke likes to put himself in the spotlights, and he actually is quite a show-off. But it was quite a challenge to make this story after all. The report includes nice shots: three Botswana metalheads dressed in black leather, goose walking on a dusty road… Fully dressed headbangers going wild on a festival… And those bunnies, they were a surprise for the correspondent but they give the report a funny twist.
3. A blind village in Peru
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This is the first contribution of Lali, our new correspondent from Peru. He pitched the story of a mountain village where many people turned blind because of a genetic abnormality. Lali wanted to make a report about the sighted priest of the village. Right before the day of the shoot the pastor unexpectedly refused to cooperate. A journalist from a commercial Peruvian television-station beat Lali to the punch. The station had made a sensationalist portrait of the village and the inhabitants were not amused. After weeks of consultations, Lali eventually found four brothers willing to be portrayed for his report. All four brothers are blind. While shooting, Lali got struck by brother Lorenzo, who lives alone at the highest point of the village.
4. Brushing away with Pricasso from Australia
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The story of Pricasso is great Metropolis material: a man who paints with his penis. It's more difficult to find the man behind Pricasso. Correspondent David did a good job, by simply coming along to buy paint with the artist. Which paint is the least damaging to your penis? David wanted to really personalize his report by modeling for the painter. After shooting David said he'd never felt so uncomfortabale when shooting a report. Luckily, despite the discomfort he was still perfectly capable of asking critical questions: "Do you notice you're getting older, Pricasso?"
5. The Wheel of Death in Pakistan
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Correspondent Kazim flew across the country for this report and risked his life watching the show in the middle of The Wheel of Death. Because he didn't complete the shoot at once, he had to make the long journey again. The result: a very exciting and spectacular report.
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