One of Channel 4's purposes is to give people in Britain a wider perspective on the world. More than any other UK broadcaster, it is committed to commissioning film-makers to bring home stories of international significance from other countries and cultures. Sometimes these come from the most inhospitable places and make difficult viewing.

One of the most distressing films of 2007 was Brian Woods' China's Stolen Children: “Desperately sad, heartbreaking, and one of the few documentaries I'll never forget,” wrote Michele Hanson in the Guardian. This two-hour peak-time Dispatches special - winner of the 2007 RTS international current affairs award - revealed China's shocking trade in children, where it is estimated 70,000 young children a year are abducted and girl babies are sold for as little as £200. Interviews with distraught parents and film of brazen trafficking made this an exceptionally affecting documentary. This wasn't the first time distinguished film-maker Brian Woods had upset the Chinese government with stark evidence of the human cost of its one-child policy. His award-winning 1995 documentary The Dying Rooms uncovered the systematic neglect of children in state-run orphanages and caused outrage in the UK, leading to international pressure on China for change and a surge in efforts by British couples to adopt Chinese children. Together with regular international current affairs strand Unreported World, beautifully made and viscerally effective documentaries like these shine light into dark corners overlooked by other mainstream media.