From 5 to 11 October, the Bayeux Award 2026 brings war correspondents, photographers, filmmakers and international reporters back to Normandy for its 33rd edition. Through exhibitions, screenings, public debates and professional encounters, the programme examines the role of journalism in documenting conflicts that are increasingly prolonged, complex and difficult to access.

Created in a city closely connected to the memory of war and liberation, the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents has become an important international meeting point for field journalism. This year, nearly 350 journalists are expected to attend.

BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet will chair the international jury. A former recipient of the Bayeux Award in 2014, Doucet has reported from major conflicts and political crises for more than four decades. She will also meet the public on 10 October to discuss her career and approach to international reporting.

Photography from Gaza, Iran, Ukraine and Afghanistan

Photography remains central to the Bayeux Award 2026 programme. Several exhibitions focus on reporters who continue working within countries affected by war, political repression and restrictions on press freedom.

At Galerie Médusa, Palestinian photojournalist Ali Jadallah presents Gaza: The Chronicle of a Genocide. A staff photographer for Anadolu Agency, Jadallah has documented life in Gaza throughout the war while experiencing the same violence and personal losses as the people he photographs.

His images move between the vast scale of destruction and its consequences for individuals and families. Hospitals, displacement, hunger and the daily struggle for survival form part of a visual archive created from inside the territory. Curated by Damir Šagolj, the exhibition will be open from 5 to 11 October.

Istâdegi – Iran: Standing Firm explores different forms of resistance within Iranian society. The exhibition includes work by photographers Yalda Moaiery, Maryam Rahmanian, Ahmad Halabisaz and Kaveh Kazemi, alongside drawings by Bahareh Akrami.

Rather than presenting Iran through a single political or cultural lens, the project combines images of demonstrations with quieter expressions of resistance. It considers how poetry, music, the body and public space can become instruments of defiance under an authoritarian system.

Afghanistan from the inside

French photojournalist Elise Blanchard presents Afghanistan from the Inside: Since the Taliban’s Return. Having spent seven years in the country, Blanchard documented everyday life beyond the decrees and official images that increasingly define international perceptions of Afghanistan.

Her photographs reveal a society marked by repression and humanitarian crisis, but also by contradiction and resilience. Particular attention is given to Afghan women and girls who continue to study in secret, establish businesses and create spaces of independence despite severe restrictions.

Blanchard’s work avoids reducing the country to a predictable narrative. Her photographs also show Taliban members encountering aspects of modern urban life, from language courses to perfume shops, while women are progressively removed from education and public space.

The exhibition runs from 5 October to 7 November at the Espace Culturel E. Leclerc. Blanchard will meet the public on 9 October at the Halle ô Grains.

Ukraine and the experience of a prolonged war

Two projects address the continuing war in Ukraine.

Radio journalist Maurine Mercier presents Ukraine: “Telling the Story of the War by Listening to Life”. Based on her podcast Carnets d’Ukraine, the exhibition approaches the conflict through the voices and daily experiences of people living under bombardment. Mercier, a three-time Bayeux Award winner, has been based in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Photojournalist Adrien Vautier’s outdoor exhibition If You’re Getting Through the Winter examines how Ukrainian society continues to function through a long war of attrition. Since 2022, Vautier has covered the conflict for Le Monde and other international publications. His photographs follow civilians and communities living between exhaustion, uncertainty and collective resistance.

Darfur, Lebanon and contemporary uprisings

The programme also gives space to conflicts that often receive limited international coverage.

Those Who Remain Alive: Mass Atrocities in Darfur brings together photographs and testimonies documenting ethnic violence, displacement and survival in Sudan. Contributors include Pep Bonet, Moises Saman, Kadir van Lohuizen, Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, Corentin Fohlen and other photographers who have worked alongside journalists and Doctors Without Borders teams.

At Les 7 Lieux, Lebanon: Daily Life in Exile presents work by Reuters photographers documenting displacement and destruction. The exhibition looks beyond military operations to show families living without stable shelter, destroyed homes and the gestures through which daily life persists.

The multimedia exhibition Uprisings: Global, developed by the WARM Foundation, considers how contemporary protest movements form, circulate and represent themselves. Bringing together photography, essays and archival material, it traces connections between uprisings in Iran, Myanmar, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Chile, Serbia and the United States.

The project also examines how surveillance, citizen journalism, anonymous networks and digital communication have transformed the visual culture of protest.

Films, debates and encounters

The Bayeux Award 2026 extends beyond photography. Its film programme includes Rehearsals for a Revolution by Pegah Ahangarani, No Good Men by Shahrbanoo Sadat, Birds of War by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak, and the BBC documentary Our Man in Moscow, following Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg.

Round-table discussions will address the difficulties of reporting from Iran, the Sahel and contemporary war zones. Other events focus on forced displacement, attacks against international law and the practical challenges facing a new generation of freelance correspondents.

On 7 October, a special evening will mark 20 years since the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The discussion will consider how war reporting has changed amid surveillance, denied access, drone warfare and increasing pressure on independent newsrooms.

The following day, Reporters Without Borders will unveil the 2025–2026 commemorative stone at the Reporters’ Memorial. Fifty-six names have been engraved in memory of journalists killed while carrying out their work. The ceremony will also honour Politkovskaya’s legacy and remember reporters recently killed in Ukraine, Colombia, Gaza, Lebanon and Mexico.

The 2026 award ceremony

The award ceremony takes place on Saturday 10 October at 6.30 pm. An international jury will present prizes across seven categories: written press, television, photography, radio, long-format television, young reporter and video image.

Additional distinctions include the People’s Choice Award for photography, selected by the public on the morning of 10 October.

Beyond recognising individual reports, the ceremony reflects the wider purpose of the Bayeux Award: defending journalism based on presence, verification and direct testimony. At a time when images circulate faster than they can be contextualis

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