African teens surfing trains, an ancient form of soccer that is more akin to martial arts, and the aftermath of an unspeakable war-time tragedy, these are the stories highlighted for commendation this morning by World Press Photo.

The World Press Photo Contest is among the most prestigious in the photojournalism community, and now for the 4th year running, the organization is celebrating “multimedia” projects , i.e. short video documentaries, among their award recipients.

Photojournalism is an old and celebrated art with a lot of tradition, and mirroring the difficulties of the writers and print news sources that they often work with, the profession has been slow to embrace the changes presented by internet distribution. I had the pleasure to speak at the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar late last year, getting a chance to meet many of the trade’s most celebrated veterans, and sensed from them the shift undergoing their profession. Video is prized by editors because of its audience engagement numbers and the increased ad revenue that preroll video ads provide over traditional display or banner advertising. Photojournalists are in a unique position to capitalize if they care to—their cameras now have built-in video capabilities, and unlike other video novices, photojournalists have highly developed storytelling skills.

Indeed this transition is clear for younger generations, and a pair of my personal favorite short documentaries, As I Am, and Wright’s Law, are from filmmakers with photojournalist backgrounds. Will any of these three docs join that rank? Embedded below are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize “online shorts” from the multimedia category. Visit the contest page for more background on the projects and to see the winners in the longform “online feature” category and the “interactive documentary” section.

1st Prize:

2nd Prize:

Third Prize:

Calico Storico on Vimeo.