NRW at the 2017 International Emmys
- NRW delegation at the 45th International Emmy World Television Festival in 2017
- Organisers: Federal State of NRW, Landesanstalt für Medien, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
- Actors: Sebastian Koch, Aylin Tezel
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is to present the International Emmys to the world’s best TV programmes for the 45th time directly after the Emmy World Television Festival. Over 600 TV experts are expected to come to the festival (18.-19.11.) and around 1,000 guests are set to attend the awards ceremony (20.11.) in New York from some 60 nations. The host is the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with president and CEO Bruce Paisner. The gala ceremony will be hosted this year by Maz Jobrani, the Iranian-American actor and comedian(„Axis of Evil Comedy Tour“, „Immigrant“).
The NRW presentation is being jointly organised by the Landesanstalt für Medien (LfM), the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, represented in New York by CEO Petra Müller, and the Federal State of NRW, represented by Andreas Lautz, State Chancellery of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. In existence since 2009, the cooperation between the media region of NRW and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is not just restricted to the annual visit by broadcasters and producers from NRW. As an ambassador for the International Emmys, Leopold Hoesch also organises the Emmy Judgings in Cologne each summer.
Coming from NRW
The International Emmy World Television Festival is an important international meeting point for the global TV industry. As Germany’s leading TV hub, NRW has been coming to New York with a delegation of TV professionals since 2009: this year includes the NRW producers Leopold Hoesch (Broadview TV), Sam Davis (Rowboat), Marcus Wolter (EndemolShine), Oliver Vogel (Bavaria Fiction), Michael Souvignier (Zeitsprung), Michael Smeaton (FFP New Media); in addition, the broadcasters Jörg Graf (RTL Deutschland Media Group), Sabine Kreft (Super RTL), Hans Demmel (n-tv) and Gebhard Henke (WDR) as well as Philip Borbély (MMC Studios Cologne). The actor Sebastian Koch and actress Aylin Tezel are part of the NRW delegation this year
Two German nominations
This year sees the German actress Sonja Gerhardt as the proud recipient of a nomination for an International Emmy in the Best Actress category for her role as Monika Schöllack in the UFA-produced ZDF three-parter „Ku’damm 56“. Moreover, the Berlin dramedy „The Braun Family¨ (Familie Braun“), co-produced by Polyphon with ZDF, is in the running for an iEmmy in the category for Best Short-Form Series.
Details about the nominated productions
Nominated for Best Actress: Sonja Gerhardt for „Ku’damm 56“, Dir: Sven Bohse
The main setting for the TV three-parter „Ku’damm 56“ produced by UFA Fiction (Nico Hofmann, Benjamin Benedict) as a commission from ZDF is a Berlin dance school where worlds collide: while two of the three daughters of the dance school owner Caterina Schöllack (Claudia Michelsen) have integrated without further ado into the hierarchically structured society of the 1950s' Economic Miracle, daughter Monika (Sonja Gerhardt) resists the predefined path and then discovers rock 'n' roll. The three-parter was broadcast on ZDF in March 2016 and soon became a great success with the viewers. Annette Hess received the German Television Prize for the Best Script, and Sonja Gerhardt’s performance was recognised by the 2017 German Television Prize. Principal photography for the sequel „Ku’damm 59“ has already wrapped.
Nominated for Best Short-Form Series: „The Braun Family¨ (¨Familie Braun“), Dir: Maurice Hübner
Co-produced by ZDF and Polyphon (Christoph Bicker, Beatrice Kramm, Uwe Urbas), the eight-part series „The Braun Family“ tells the story of two neonazis Thomas (Edin Hasanovic) and Kai (Vinzenz Kiefer) who are confronted right out of the blue by the six-year-old black girl Lara turning up on the doormat of their flat share. Lara is the result of a one night stand that Thomas has totally wiped from his memory. Kai doesn’t want to have anything to do with the girl and tries to get rid of her. Meanwhile, Lara shows her father Thomas with innocent naivety how thin and fragile his right-wing ideologies are. The comedy had its premiere in 2016 on the ZDF Quantum online service and was subsequently broadcast in ZDF’s main schedule.