TV Docs on Disaster Risk Reduction – Awards in Sendai

A special awards ceremony  was held on Monday 16 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan at the Third World UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. For these first International Awards for the Best TV Documentaries on Disaster Risk Reduction, ‘The Kamaishi Miracle’, by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), won the first prize in the Best Human Story Category. It recounted how 184 students from a school survived the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

‘It’s Time’ by GMA Network Philippines and BBC’s Panorama ‘Britain Underwater’ shared the award for  the Best Investigative Story category.

The documentary ‘Rebuilding Sichuan’ by Discovery Channel won the first  prize in the Best Disaster  Risk  Reduction Story and the Award for the Most Innovative  category went to  Dragonfly Film & TV Productions.

The new DRR film awards honour filmmakers, producers and broadcasters who make documentaries that can help protect vulnerable communities from future disaster risk.

The three jury members were Bettina Brinkmann from European Broadcasting Union (EBU); Natalia Ilieva from Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU); and Brigitte Leoni from UNISDR. The jury shortlisted 12 documentaries from almost 100 entries broadcast on television since 2005.