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UNICEF assisted ATN documentary receives Emmy Award

Dhaka, Tuesday, November 23, 2004: A UNICEF-supported television documentary on how children can make spectacular achievement in real life, produced by ATN Bangla, won the special International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB)Award at the 32nd International Emmy Awards Gala in New York City on Monday.

ATN Bangla produced the 25-minute documentary ‘Amrao Pari’ that includes the real-life story of a local 12-year old boy who saved the lives of hundreds of passengers of a train by stopping it a few yards from plunging into what could have been a catastrophic accident. He spotted a fault on the track and began to wave his shirt to stop the advancing train, and succeeded in doing so. The documentary also highlighted efforts made by children in producing a children's tabloid monthly titled ‘Jhinook’.

In an interview with ATN Bangla today Mr. Morten Giersing, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, expressed his satisfaction at the films receiving the award. “This shows that the children of Bangladesh have tremendous potential for competing and winning at global level”, said he. “It also shows that given the opportunity and inspiration children who come from poorer background too can achieve like others.from poorer backgthe poor.”

“ATN Bangla’s success will inspire other Bangladeshi television channels in promoting children's rights and supporting children's participation in broadcasting’, he hoped.

He also informed that UNICEF Bangladesh, in association with Singapore-based Asian Mass-communication and Information Centre (AMIC) will launch UNICEF AMIC Meena Awards in March 2005 to stimulate quality media production for and on children in Bangladesh. “ATN’s winning of Emmy Award shows that Bangladesh has a strong foundation to build on in this field,” said Morten Giersing.

Morten Giersing also highlighted the need for introducing separate children’s radio channel for empowering the adolescents in the country.

International Emmy Award is granted in the categories of: Arts Programming, Children & Young People, Comedy, Documentary, Drama Series, News Coverage, Non-Scripted Entertainment, and Television Movie/Mini-series.

Every December, thousands of children around the globe celebrate a special day, the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB).  Children become directly involved with television as reporters, presenters and producers of programs that express their own dreams and concerns. At the annual International Emmy Awards Gala, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and UNICEF present a special award to the broadcaster whose programming best captures the spirit of The International Children's Day of Broadcasting.

This year there were more than 30 TV broadcasters competing for the award. In addition to the winner ATN Bangla, the other finalists were BTV-8 and Walt Disney International from China; Nation Television from Kenya and Lao National Television from Lao PDR.

It may be mentioned that UNICEF also provided financial support for the producer’s trip to New York for taking part in the International Emmy Awards Gala.