Three programs produced by national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) are among the nominated finalists of an award that honors outstanding radio and television programs by broadcasters across the Asia-Pacific region.

The VTV programs have their way to the final list of the annual 2016 ABU Prizes, to be awarded on October 24 in Bali, Indonesia.

More 200 entries were submitted to this year’s ABU Prizes, which have been shortlisted into 55 finalists divided by radio and television programs.

The programs by state-run VTV, the only Vietnamese representative, were among the 30 finalists for the TV category.

From Way to School to Runaway Brides

The Vietnamese broadcaster’s I am Beautiful! You Too documentary on people with disabilities in Vietnam joined five other entries from South Korea, Germany, Hungary, and Japan in the Documentary sub-category.

The documentary is a bright and optimistic story of how the Vietnamese disabled community beautify themselves through make-ups and fashion despite discrimination from the society and even their own family members.

“Since the documentary’s broadcast, many viewers have expressed admiration for the perseverance and genuine stories of the disabled,” VTV editor Le My Cuong, director of the documentary, said.

Nguyen Thi Van, one of the characters featured in the documentary, has been invited to be guest speaker at a workshop on violence against women and people with disabilities hosted by Australia’s Flinders University, Cuong said.

Nguyen Thi Van, a character featured in VTV documentary ‘I am Beautiful! You Too’. Photo: VTV

In the Children sub-category, VTV’s Way to School documentary was nominated alongside entries from Sri Lanka, Germany, and Iran.

The 17-minute documentary captures the journey of 13-year-old Hang and her 11-year-old sister Sua, who have to cross 28 kilometers to school every day on foot in the cold weather of mountainous Son La Province in northern Vietnam.

Way to School is the first installment of a six-episode documentary series of the same name produced by VTV’s Production Center for Educational Programs that has won gold in the documentary at Vietnam’s 2015 National Television Festival.

Runaway Brides, the escape story of Vietnamese women who were married to abusive foreign husbands, will compete with entries from Hong Kong, Japan, and Russia in the News Reporting sub-category, making it the first-ever Vietnamese representative to be shortlisted for the category.

The ten-minute long reporting, compiled from three other short reporting by VTV, depicts the hardship these women face in their home country, where their children are refused education due to lack of Vietnamese identification paper, birth certificate, or household register.

“We want their status to be known to authorities so that hindrances can be lifted and the children [of these runaway brides] can go to school like any other kids,” VTV reporter Nguyen Ngan said.

Children of Vietnamese brides who had escaped from their abusive foreign students, as depicted in VTV news reporting ‘Runaway Brides’. Photo: VTV

Way to School and Runaway Brides are also among four finalists nominated for the Television Special Jury Prize.

The award ceremony will be held next Monday in Bali, Indonesia as part of the 53^rd ABU General Assembly and Associate Meetings that commenced on Tuesday.

The ABU Prizes is an annual award offered to outstanding radio and television programs by broadcasters across the Asia-Pacific region that are members of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, or ABU, is a non-profit and non-government association working to “promote the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters and encourages regional and international co-operation between broadcasters”.

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