New York Festivals announces 2021 TV & Film Awards Finalists

“Stories can lift our spirits, drive change, and give us hope. Storytellers explore, enlighten, enchant, and engage – make us laugh, make us cry, make us aware, and remind us we are all connected,” Rose Anderson, VP/Executive Director, New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. “This year’s finalists used their imaginations and mastery of their craft to engage their audiences in a year like no other.”

In a year dominated by a global pandemic and disruption on all fronts innovative content advanced to the medal round. 2021’s Finalists include content from around the globe in prime time entertainment, documentaries, investigative journalism, sports coverage, promos, streaming media, and brand image films.

Social justice

NYF’s newly launched social justice categories celebrate storytellers using creativity to engage viewers in every genre.

Finalists moving on to the next round include First Take: George Floyd and Police Brutality Protest (ESPN), Witness - St. Louis Superman (Al Jazeera English), CBS Sports Presents: 8:46 (CBS Sports), Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning (Kreativ Inc. for Lifetime), A Most Beautiful Thing (50 Eggs Films), Antibullying (The Walt Disney Company, Europe & Africa), In Search of The Frog Boys (Make Waves Pte Ltd CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd), The Time is Now (The Edge Picture Company), and The Price of Poverty (DW Deutsche Welle).

Documentaries

Compelling documentaries created by global storytellers advanced.

Finalists include Academy Award winner My Octopus Teacher (Off the Fence B.V., Netflix), The Last Dance (ESPN), Love on the Spectrum (Northern Pictures Pty Ltd Australian Broadcasting Corporation Shades of America (Banijay Rights/CNN), FEDELINA: A Stolen Life (ABS-CBN Corp.), Abba Forever - The Winner Takes It All (Stanza Media Limited), Dark City Beneath The Beat (Dark City Beneath The Beat), Look Me Over - Liberace (Kinescope Film GmbH ARTE G.E.I.E.), Hot Money (Cinepartners LLC.), Being the Queen (1895 Films/NatGeo), The Real Right Stuff (1895 Films/ Disney +), Pumas – Legends of the Ice Mountains (Terra Mater Factual Studios GmbH), Why We Hate (Discovery Channel), Saving Notre-Dame (WINDFALL FILMS/NOVA), A World without Beethoven? (Deutsche Welle), Surviving Jeffrey Epstein (Bungalow Media + Entertainment and Break Thru Films, Inc for Lifetime), Stutter School (Southern Pictures/SBS), Peckinpah Suite (Turner Spain/TCM), The Vote (American Experience/PBS), 24 Hours in Wuhan: Epicenter, Quarantine & Recovery (CGTN America), and Escape from Extinction (MRB Productions).

Entertainment video and streaming

Entertainment video and streaming services provided house-bound audiences with unlimited access to content.

Entertainment Finalists moving on include One World: Together at Home (Global Citizen Multiple Networks), The 2020 Innovators Awards: Wall Street Journal Magazine, (WSJ. Magazine), All Creatures Great And Small (All3Media International/Masterpiece on PBS), LEGO Masters USA (Banijay Rights/FOX), Dear Santa (UM Studios/United States Postal Service), A Capitol Fourth 2020 (Capital Concerts/PBS), Das Boot, Season 2 (Bavaria Fiction Sky Deutschland), Judy Collins & Jonas Fjeld: Winters Stories Live from the Oslo Opera House (Artist Vision), Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro (Pacific Television), En La Línea: (México Discovery Networks Latin America), Space Launch Live: America Returns to Space (Discovery Channel), MasterChef Australia (Banijay Right/ Network Ten), Staged (GCB Films/Hulu), Freud (Satel Film/Bavaria Fiction ORF / Netflix), Filthy Rich and Homeless (Blackfella Films Pty Ltd Australian Broadcasting Corporation), The Accident (All3Media International Channel 4, UK), Rock Studio (Globo Comunicações e Participações SA ), Unterleuten - A Village Torn Apart (German Television ZDF), The Sounds (South Pacific Pictures), Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show (Stanza Media Limited NRK), and A Quest for Sound (Hakka TV.)

Telenovelas advanced to the medal round including Buscando a Frida, La Suerte de Loli and 100 Días Para Enamorarnos (Telemundo) and Wild Land (SP Televisio, S.A.).

Broadcast Journalism

Global Broadcast Journalism showcased world news and headline topics. Al Jazeera, 2020’s Broadcaster of the Year, moved ahead with their documentary series focusing on world issues Al Jazeera Investigations, Fault Lines, the network’s current affairs and documentary series, and 101 East, Al Jazeera English’s investigative journalism series.

Additional prominent companies advancing include NBC News, Voice of America, MSNBC, DW, Television Broadcasts Limited, Antena3, Artear, Radio Free Asia, CGTN America, CGTN Digital, and CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd.

Global Sports content advanced to the medal round companies advancing include ESPN, CBS Sports, MLB Network, beIN SPORTS Asia, WWE, Globo TV, and Rueckenwindfilm GmbH Amazon Prime Video.

Corporate Image Films championed prominent global brands and their missions in categories for Brand Image, Employee Engagement, Social Justice, Social Good, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development, and Tourism. Finalists advancing include 2020 Production Company of the Year, The Edge Picture Company, The Nature Conservancy, Plastic Pictures, Rueckenwindfilm GmbH, BRAND SPIDERS GmbH, The Creative Coalition, Media Zoo, Kreativ Lobster, and The Walt Disney Company.

All content submitted into the 2021 competition were judged online and screened by NYF’s TV & Film Awards Grand Jury of 200+ producers, directors, writers, and other creative media professionals from around the globe.

Nominated Finalists will be judged by a panel at the United Nations for the UNDGC Awards. Award-winning entries will be showcased on the TV & Film Awards winners gallery.

2021’s NYF TV & Film Award winners will be announced on 12 October 2021 at the annual Storytellers gala taking place at NAB in Las Vegas. This year is the eleventh year of NYF’s strategic partnership with NAB Show, the ultimate marketplace for people passionate about media, entertainment, and technology. All winners and attendees will have access to the multi-day NAB event which is the world’s largest media entertainment marketplace taking place this October.

To view the 2021 Finalists, click here.