Asian producers top Japan Prize finals list

Four of the five program proposals chosen by judges of NHK’s Japan Prize for educational programming have come from Asia this year.

In all, 70 finalists were selected out of the 331 entries submitted from 57 countries or regions, with four of the five Program Proposal finalists from Bangladesh, BBS-Bhutan, DD-India and SLRC-Sri Lanka.

The themes of these proposals focus on specific educational issues in their respective countries, such as girls’ education and literacy education for minority groups, and were said to be unique to Asia.

The finalist producers will gather at the annual Japan Prize finals in Tokyo from 17-24 October 2013 and will go through the final round pitching in front of the jurors.

The best two will be selected and awarded cash prize to be used for the realisation of their proposals.

In the Audiovisual Division of the Japan Prize, entries from Asia-Pacific countries remain as strong finalists, coming from Australia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand and Turkey.

One juror quoted by the Prize organisers, NHK-Japan, said their category was highly competitive and tough to judge.

“The judging process made me realise we’re part of a global community with the same aspiration and ambition – to deliver engaging and life-changing content to young people,” the judge said.

The full list of Finalists and their trailers can be found here.