International television market Mipcom Cannes on Thursday unveiled this year’s nominees for the Diversify TV Awards, which honor international programming promoting diversity and inclusion.
The nominees were picked from some 165 submissions from more than 27 countries. To be eligible, programs were required to provide a fair and balanced representation of race and ethnicity, the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities; to show a positive impact; to stand out in originality and excellence in terms of storytelling, casting and production values; to challenge stereotypes and to have aired tin the past year. The awards honor both fiction and non-fiction shows.
Among the nominees for scripted representation of race and ethnicity are the British Amazon/ITV series Riches, the German Disney+ show Sam – A Saxon and Canadian drama Little Bird, which aired on Crave and APTN lumi. In the representation of disability category, nominees include Canadian drama About Antoine from Club illico and TVA; OCS’ French series Aspergirl and the Moviestar Plus+ Spanish drama Simple. For representation of LGBTQIA+ subject matter, scripted nominees include ATRESplayer’s Nights in Tefía from Spain, france tv slash and France 5’s About Sasha and NHK show She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat from Japan.
The winners of the 2023 Diversify TV Awards will be announced at Mipcom in Cannes on Oct. 17 at a gala awards show hosted by Femi Oke. This year the awards will also include a Behind the Scenes Impact award honoring “a person or team whose influence, actions and vision from behind the scenes stands as an inspiration in the field of diversity and inclusion” which will go to Deborah Williams, CEO of the U.K.’s Creative Diversity Network, which has been a pioneer in driving change in the fields of disability and increased inclusion across the film and television industries.
The full list of the 2023 Diversify TV nominations are below.
Representation of Disability – Non-Scripted
Inside our Autistic Minds (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: BBC Two
Distributor: BBC Studios
Production Company: BBC Studios
The Roads of Ae-rin and Woo-ryeong (South Korea)
Original Broadcaster: KBS (Korean Broadcasting System)
Distributor: KBS Media
Production Company: KBS
Disability & Abortion: The Hardest Choice (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: Channel 4
Distributor: Banijay Rights
Production Companies: RFD Television and Hey Sonny
Representation of Disability – Scripted
About Antoine (Canada)
Original Broadcaster: Club illico, TVA
Distributor: Amuz Distribution
Production Company: ComediHa!
Aspergirl (France)
Original Broadcaster: OCS
Distributor: France tv distribution
Production Company: Patafilm
Simple (Spain)
Original Broadcaster: Movistar Plus+
Distributor: Beta Film
Production Companies: Movistar Plus+ in collaboration with Destrucción y Salvación
Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Older Children
Phoenix Rise (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: BBC iPlayer
Distributor: Sinking Ship
Production Company: BBC Studios Kids & Family
Supa Team 4 (South Africa)
Original Broadcaster: Netflix
Distributor: Netflix
Production Companies: Triggerfish Animation Studios and Cake Entertainment
Ghostwriter (Canada)
Original Broadcaster: Apple TV+
Distributor: Apple TV+
Production Companies: Sinking Ship Entertainment, Sesame Workshop
Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Pre-School
Dog Squad (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: BBC
Distributor: BBC
Production Company: Hello Halo Kids for BBC
Reu and Harper’s Wonder World (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: Channel 5
Distributor: Channel 5 and Doc Hearts Ltd
Production Company: Doc Hearts Ltd
Kiya & the Kimoja Heroes (U.S.)
Original Broadcaster: Disney Jr and Disney+
Distributor: eOne
Production Company(ies): Frog Box, Disney EMEA, France Televisions, Triggerfish Animation Studio
Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Non-Scripted
Queerstralia (Australia)
Original Broadcaster: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Distributor: ABC Commercial
Production Company: Guesswork Television
Lotus Sports Club (Cambodia)
Original Broadcaster: TVK National Television of Cambodia
Distributor: Dutch CORE
Production Company: Document Our History NOW and RoCK
Naked Education (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: Channel 4
Distributor: All3Media International
Production Company: Betty TV
Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Scripted
Nights in Tefía (Spain)
Original Broadcaster: ATRESplayer
Distributor: Buendia Estudios Canarias
Production Companies: Buendia Estudios Canarias with the participation of Atresmedia TV
About Sasha (France)
Original Broadcaster: france tv slash and France 5
Distributor: France tv distribution
Production Companies: Jerico TV & Big Band Story
She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat (Japan)
Original Broadcaster: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Distributor: NHK Enterprises
Production Companies: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)/MMJ
Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Non-Scripted
The Swap (Australia)
Original Broadcaster: SBS Australia
Distributor: No Distributor
Production Company: Southern Pictures
Folau (Australia)
Original Broadcaster: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Distributor: ABC Commercial
Production Company: In Films
Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World (U.K.)
Original Broadcaster: BBC 2
Distributor: BBC Studios
Production Company: BBC Studios
Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Scripted
Riches (U.K.)
Original Broadcasters: Amazon Prime Video and ITV
Distributor: Banijay Rights
Production Company: Greenacre Films
Little Bird (Canada)
Original Broadcaster: Crave and APTN lumi
Distributor: Fremantle
Production Companies: Rezolution Pictures, OP Little Bird
Sam – A Saxon (Germany)
Original Broadcaster: Disney+
Distributor: Disney
Production Company: Big Window Productions (An UFA Fiction Productions GmbH Label)
