This year's "51st Monte-Carlo TV Festival" had quite a number of Japanese nominees and during yesterday's award ceremony they took a total of five awards.

First and foremost, the TBS drama special "Hei no Naka no Chuugakkou" ("A School Behind Bars"), that aired back in 2010, won the award(s) for "Best Television Film" and the special "Monaco Red Cross" award. Starring actor Watanabe Ken also was honored with the "Outstanding Actor in a Television Film" award.

The drama is about the life of the teachers and the students at the only public junior high school in Japan, that is situated inside a prison.

Another Japanese winner at the festival was the documentary "Waratte Sayonara" ("Laugh it Away and Say Goodbye"), which won one of the two awards for "Best News Documentary".

UNESCO's special "AMADE Prize" was also given to a Japanese production, the NHK drama "Kokoro no Ito" ("Threads Of Our Hearts"), starring Matsuyuki Yasuko and Kamiki Ryunosuke in a touching story about a deaf mother and her son.

Source: 47news