Best amateur videos of 2008

best of

We've selected what we think are the best amateur videos published on The Observers in 2008. Vote for the one that impressed you most.

Contributors

Team Observers

SOUTH AFRICA - 28/02/08: Like the good old apartheid times

This video was filmed in September 2007 by students at Free State University, Bloemfontein, in central South Africa. The youths were putting their elderly black cleaners through their "initiation process" - forcing them to eat dog food and urine and down glasses of beer. When the images emerged in February, they provoked demonstrations across the country.

Read the post

IRAN - 10/03/08: Cut your hair or we'll do it for you

This video was sent to us by blogger Arash Kamangir. He said that the man had been arrested by the police because his hair was too long. He wasn't able to locate where it took place. Warning, these images might be found shocking.

Read the post

CHINA - 20/05/08: Video of the earthquake 20 seconds after the tremor

This video was filmed just seconds after and close to the epicentre of the Sichuan earthquake that killed around 70,000 people. The scene takes place in a theatre where children were practicing a play. It was 2:28pm (Chinese time), May 12th. As the film rolls, the ground is still shaking and the walls falling down.

Read the post

MOROCCO - 11/06/08: Riots in Morocco: official sources vs. YouTube

At the end of May, the town of Sidi Ifni became a battleground between the police and groups of unemployed. While the authorities talked of "scuffles", webusers told a different story - of a violent crackdown. Images of the riot start at 1'54mn.

Read the post

ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - 02/07/08: A damning video for the Israeli Army

The scene was filmed in the village of Naalin, northwest of Jerusalem. An Israeli soldier fires a rubber bullet at a 27-year-old Palestinian protestor. According to the NGO which recovered the video, the incident had been covered up by the Israeli authorities.

Read the post

RUSSIA - 10/09/08: Censorship - live on Russian TV

An entertainment programme censored on live TV. That's what happened on 5 September on Russia's 'Channel 2' (Telekanal Rossija). When one of the players of the televised Cluedo guessed 'Putin' as the killer, a presenter appeared on stage to get rid of the name. Quite a spectacle...

Read the post