17 Jun GMA Network is Philippine Frontrunner at the 2021 New York Festivals
GMA Network is the Philippine frontrunner at the 2021 New York Festivals (NYF) “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition with five entries making it as finalists. GMA documentary programs One Heart with Jessica Soho (Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho), Reel Time, Reporters Notebook, The Atom Araullo Specials and concert special Alden’s Reality: The Virtual Concert will be moving on to the medal round of the awards. The winners of this year’s NYF will be announced on October 12 in Las Vegas.
Philippines’ highest rating television show One Heart with Jessica Soho (Kapuso mo Jessica Soho) was named as a finalist in the category Documentary: Social Justice for its feature about a woman whose face was slashed. The story tackled domestic abuse and how cases of gender-based violence further increased during the implementation of the community quarantine in the Philippines at the height of the pandemic.
Shortlisted in the Documentary: Heroes category is Reel Time’s episode “This Abled” about a man with no legs and arms seeking to reach a mountain’s peak. It tackled the issue of discrimination and how limited job opportunities are among persons with disabilities in the Philippines.
The episode “Miguel’s Wounds” of current affairs program Reporter’s Notebook is a finalist in the Documentary: Health/Medical Information category. It investigated the plight of a 21-year-old man afflicted by a mysterious condition that left his skin peeling and his body full of wounds.
Nominated under the Program: Sports Documentary category, The Atom Araullo Specials: Dreams of Gold tells the story of Filipino athletes and how competitive the country is in the international sports scene. This is the third consecutive NYF nomination for the program since it premiered in 2018, and giving the Philippines a back-to-back Silver World Medal win in the past two years for its “No Leftovers” episode (Social Issues category) in 2019 and its “Babies4Sale.PH” documentary in 2020 (Best Investigative Report category).
Finally, GMA’s concert special Alden’s Reality: The Virtual Reality Concert earned its first international nomination via the NYF under the Entertainment Special: Special Event category. Held last December, it was the first-ever concert of its kind in the country. The record-setting concert is contending with entries from the USA, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, and Norway.