9 New York Festival finalists for GMA News and Public Affairs

GMA News and Public Affairs, the country's most trusted news organization, proves its world class calibre again with a total of nine nominations -- five coming from the leading news channel GMA News TV and four from GMA-7 -- in the highly prestigious 2012 New York Festivals.

Less than a year after its launch, GMA News TV makes a definitive statement with five of its documentaries achieving finalist status at the NYF.

News TV's docudrama Pluma: Si Rizal, Ang Dakilang Manunulat (Rizal, The Great Writer), a historic piece that traces the evolution of Rizal's writings, was chosen as finalist in the History and Society category.

Front Row and Reel Time, News TV's groundbreaking weekend documentaries, received two nominations each. Front Row's Bente Dos (Twenty-Two), narrates the life of a family in Manila's slums, with 22 children. Front Row's Yaman Sa Basura (Child Urban Miners) tells the story of twin boys risking life and limb while working in an urban mine. Reel Time's Lusong (Live to Dive) shows father and son divers racing to earn enough over a summer to send the boy to school, while Tira (Infected) relates cases of young teens who suffer from sexually transmitted diseases.

GMA-7 nominees include the public affairs special Report Card. Bannered by GMA News pillar Mike Enriquez and Kapuso leading man Dingdong Dantes, the special examines why the country's educational system still struggles to make the grade.

Getting the nod in the Nature and Wildlife category is Born to be Wild's The Born Expeditions Finale. In this episode, the Born team documents Thai environmentalists' efforts to propagate a giant freshwater stingray locally known as prakaben while another group embarks on an African expedition to see the great white shark.

Completing the list are two episodes of the country's most awarded documentary program I-Witness. Gintong Putik takes Peabody Award-winning documentarist Kara David back to the town of Paracale in Camarines Norte where she meets a young boy burrowing for gold in the middle of a rice field. Fellow Peabody Award winner Jay Taruc features the harrowing account of burn victims in the second I-Witness entry dubbed Lapnos (Burn).

"These nine finalists may be promoted to Gold, Silver or Bronze during the current judging process," says Rose Anderson, Executive Director of the New York Festivals.

The 2012 New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards received entries from over 40 countries. It is dedicated to both the television and film industries and encourages next generation story-tellers to break new ground.

This year's awards ceremony is scheduled on April 17 at The NAB Show in Las Vegas. (GMA Network)