ABS-CBN News continues its stellar run in international competitions after eight of its documentaries on pressing issues and inspiring Filipinos made it as finalists in the 2020 New York (NY) Festivals TV & Film Awards.
ABS-CBN DocuCentral, the documentary arm of the country’s largest news organization, produced six of the eight finalists. They include Korina Sanchez Roxas’ “HIV Rising,” which looked at the growing number of HIV cases in the Philippines, and “Invisible,” which tackled issues surrounding mental health.
Meanwhile, NY Festival Gold World Medal winner Jeff Canoy’s two documentaries made it to the final round. These are “Ang Babae ng Balangiga (The Woman of Balangiga)” that bared the untold story of Balangiga heroine Casiana Nacionales, and “Alab (Ablaze),” which celebrated the courage and camaraderie of Filipino firefighters.
Another former NY Festival winner, “Local Legends,” added two more finalists for ABS-CBN with its feature on Ric Obenza, who dedicated his life restoring the forests in Davao, and the episode about the “Father of Philippine glass sculpture,” legendary artist Ramon Orlina.
Two of the network’s Current Affairs programs, “#NoFilter” and now-on-hiatus “Red Alert,” also secured final nominations for their documentaries “Tao Po (Is Anybody Home)” about the lives of a mother and her daughter with special needs, and “Tigdas (Measles)” that focused on the underlying effect of the contagious virus especially among children.
The awarding ceremony of the 2020 NY Festivals TV & Film Awards is scheduled on 21 April 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. ABS-CBN Integrated News head Ging Reyes and ABS-CBN Integrated Creative Communications head Robert Labayen also return as members of the Grand Jury this year, with Reyes joining other high-ranking media professionals from all over the world in the competition’s Advisory Board again.
Watch ABS-CBN’s world-class and acclaimed documentaries on ABS-CBN, ANC, DZMM TeleRadyo, and iWant. To learn more about ABS-CBN documentaries, follow @DocuCentral on Facebook and Twitter. For updates, follow @ABSCBNPR on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or visit abscbnpr.com.
