UK wins the most awards at 2013 International Emmys

The UK won three out of ten Emmy statues at the 41^st International Emmy Awards ceremony, held at the Hilton New York, on Monday.

SKY1’s Moone Boy – the story of 11-year-old Martin and his imaginary friend Sean Murphy, set in a small Irish town in 1989 – brought the UK the award for Comedy.

“The show is very specific to its location, time and identity. It’s a little bit different. I think people really responded to that and really liked that,” commented co-writer Nick Vincent Murphy. He and creator/starring actor Chris O’Dowd agreed that if they could pick one country to broadcast the show it would be Brazil. “I think it would actually work really over there. Catholicism is a big part of the show – Brazil is a Catholic country and I like the idea of not being so cold when we’re working,” O’Dowd explained.

Brazil itself scored two awards – Best Actress went to Fernanda Montenegro for Sweet Mother and the Telenovela prize was awarded to Side by Side.

There was a tie in the arts programming category – the prestigious trophy was split between South Korean Hello?! Orchestra and BBC One’s Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender. Canal+’s zombie series Les Revenants (The Returned) was awarded Best Drama, while 5 Broken Cameras got Best Documentary.

Best Actor went to Sean Bean for his portrayal of Simon, a shy and lonely English teacher who turns into a flamboyant transvestite at night, in British drama Accused.

Honoured by the 41^st International Emmy Founders award were film and television writer/director J.J. Abrams, and RTL Group’s Co-CEO Anke Schaeferkordt who received the Director award.

Winners also included the second season of Australia’s reality show Go Back Where You Came From and German mini-series A Day for a Miracle. Taylor Schilling and Danielle Brooks from Netflix’s hit series Orange Is the New Black were on the red carpet, along with Indian TV actress Aashka Goradia, heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko and more.

Martina Dechevska
Photos: JBJPictures

For further information about the International Emmy Awards visit here.