Snow Monkeys and Emmy Awards: Student sustainability video festival 47

No, it's not final exam time.  Instead, it's a bonus installment prompted by the Emmy Awards.  A third installment of the television honors for news and documentaries was held Monday and the big winner was PBS, who announced their victories in a press release: PBS Wins 17 News & Documentary Emmy® Awards, More Than Any Other Organization.

ARLINGTON, VA; September 29, 2015 – PBS programs were honored with 17 News & Documentary Emmy® Awards, more than any other organization, at the 36th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards presentation at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, Home of the New York Philharmonic, in New York City on September 28.

“On behalf of PBS and our member stations, congratulations to our all our programs and producers who were honored with News & Documentary Emmy Awards,” said Beth Hoppe, PBS Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming. “Our mission in public media is to shed light where others may not go--through in-depth investigative journalism, outstanding nature and natural history programming, and independent film--and our 2015 News & Documentary Award winners lead the way. These awards are a welcome recognition of our focus on distinctive content and speak to the extraordinary quality of programming being produced by public media. Congratulations to all of our winners and nominees.”

Acclaimed PBS series FRONTLINE earned six awards, followed by NATURE with four. FRONTLINE’s "United States of Secrets" and POV’s "After Tiller" were tied for Best Documentary.

Two of the statues taken home by Nature caught my attention, as they were for a show that one of my students used for his visual aid this spring, "Snow Monkeys."  The episode won two awards, Outstanding Nature Programming and Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary and Long Form.  Watch the clips from Nature on PBS to appreciate the craftsmanship of the program.

Here's the trailer: Snow Monkeys | Nature, Trailer | PBS

In the frigid valleys of Japan's Shiga Highlands, a troop of snow monkeys make their way and raise their families in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place.

Now the clip that the student used Hot Springs for Snow Monkeys in "Hell Valley" | Snow Monkeys, Nature | PBS.

Japan's Jigokudani became a sensation when hot springs were constructed for the Hell Valley snow monkey troops. The monkeys get important help from the hot springs in the valley, fed by warm volcanic waters, but their survival is a communal effort in a complex society of rank and privilege where each knows their place.

Follow over the jump for two more clips along with another award-winning PBS show that I blogged about.

Next, Benefits of Grooming for Snow Monkeys | Nature | PBS.

The troop that grooms together, stays together: Get to know the social ins and outs of individuals within a 160-member snow monkey troop led by Kuro-san, a young male still new to the job and something of a solitary grouch.

The last clip is Infant Snow Monkeys Start to Explore | Snow Monkeys, Nature | PBS.

As winter months fade away, the forest becomes a nursery for this troop of snow monkeys: The newborns are full of energy and curiosity, and are blissfully unaware of dangers or troop politics.

Click on this link to watch the full video at PBS.org.

The other PBS show that captured my attention by winning was "Your Inner Fish," which won Outstanding Graphic Design & Art Direction.  I featured some of the clips from that program in Teeth and jaws of our inner fish.  Congratulations to this program, other clips of which I show to my students as part of my lecture on primate evolution, thus making this entry a fitting end to a month devoted to lessons.