London, UK, October 11, 2011 – Today PUMA.Creative and the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation announced “The End of the Line” as the winner of the inaugural PUMA.Creative Impact Award. This annual €50,000 award, a first of its kind in the industry, has been launched to identify and honor the documentary film that have made the most significant positive impact on society. “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” was unexpectedly awarded a Special Commendation for its social impact and a €25,000 prize.

Commenting on the PUMA.Creative Impact Award winner, Jochen Zeitz, CEO Sport & Lifestyle Group and CSO of PPR and Chairman of the Board of PUMA, said, “I would like to congratulate “The End of the Line” on becoming the first winner of the PUMA.Creative Impact Award. At PUMA, we believe that corporations have a responsibility and opportunity to contribute to a better world for generations to come. Positive change only happens if people do something.  Documentary film is such an influential medium because it allows the public to emotionally connect with the subject matter. We hope that with the PUMA.Creative Impact award we can help to inspire positive change in the world.”

The shortlist of five documentaries that also includes “The Age of Stupid”, “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court” and “Trouble the Water” were judged by an elite jury: Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Morgan Spurlock (Academy Award-nominated Director of “Super Size Me”), Orlando Bagwell (Director of the JustFilms initiative at the Ford Foundation), Emmanuel Jal (musician and activist), and Loretta Minghella OBE. This shortlist was derived from 70 submitted documentaries, which each showed a rich standard of social impact. The films cover topics ranging from environmental issues to social justice and global conflict, and all five documentaries have enlightened and inspired individuals about global concerns.

The winning documentary, “The End of the Line”, was the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on the world’s oceans and has been widely acclaimed as a wake-up call. The film was selected for the PUMA.Creative Impact Award because it tells a magnificently crafted message of global importance, compelling its audience to have a more responsible attitude towards the ocean, purposed to invoke a positive change.

For more information visit: www.britdoc.org/impactaward.