2020 New York (NY) Festivals TV & Film AwardsABS-CBN News continues its stellar run in international competitions after eight of its documentaries made it as finalists in the 2020 New York (NY) Festivals TV & Film Awards.

ABS-CBN DocuCentral 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.

NY Festival Gold World Medal winner Jeff Canoy’s three documentaries made it to the final round—“Ang Babae ng Balangiga (The Woman of Balangiga)” that bared the untold story of Balangiga hero Casiana Nacionales and “Tao Po (Is Anybody Home)” for the documentary program “#NoFilter” that showed the lives of a mother and her daughter with special needs. His piece about the underlying effect of measles (“Tigdas”) for the now-on-hiatus program “Red Alert” is also a finalist.

Another former NY Festival winner, “Local Legends,” added two more finalists for ABS-CBN with its feature on Ric Obenza, who dedicated his life to restoring the forests in Davao, and the episode on artist Ramon Orlina.

DocuCentral’s documentary “Alab (Ablaze),” which celebrated the courage of Filipino firefighters, completes the finalists from ABS-CBN News.

The awarding ceremony of the 2020 NY Festivals TV & Film Awards is scheduled on April 21, 2020 in Las Vegas. ABS-CBN Integrated News head Ging Reyes and ABS-CBN Integrated Creative Communications head Robert Labayen also return as members of the grand jury, with Reyes joining other media professionals from all over the world on the competition’s advisory board again. (Story/Photos by: Kane Choa)