International Emmy Award for "Generation War" ("Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter")

• Philipp Kadelbach’s three-parter wins in the TV Movie/Mini-Series category
• Film- und Medienstiftung NRW backed the ZDF production with 900,000 Euros
• Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, LfM and Filmstiftung present NRW’s TV hub in New York

Leopold Hoesch (Broadview TV), Sam Davis (Rowboat), Michael Loeb (WDR Mediagroup), Friedhelm Bixschlag (MMC Studios Köln), Jörg Graf (RTL), Comedian Carolin Kebekus, Petra Müller (Film- und Medienstiftung NRW), Schauspieler Anna Loos und Jan Josef Liefers, Michael Souvignier (Zeitsprung), Kabarettist Serdar Somuncu und Matthijs Wouter Knol (EFM).  © David Lefranc /Film- und Medienstiftung NRW

Within the framework of its World Television Festival, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the 42nd International Emmys on Monday evening to the world’s best non-American TV programmes. Over 700 TV experts from 60 different nations attended this year’s festival and awards ceremony.

The team of "Generation War" ("Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter", dir: Philipp Kadelbach) was chuffed to have won in one of the evening’s most important categories: the production was recognised at the awards ceremony as the Best TV Movie/Mini-Series. The three-parter won against competition from three entries from the UK, Japan and Brazil. The whole cast with the actors Tom Schilling, Miriam Stein, Ludwig Trepte, Katharina Schüttler and Volker Bruch came to the International Emmys' awards ceremony along with the screenwriter Stefan Kolditz and the producers and commissioning editors.

¨Congratulations to the whole team of 'Generation War'! After a year full of successful news, we are pleased to see the accolade of the International Emmy now going to the three-parter, and we also join all those involved in celebrating this special distinction. This exceptional production wins over with outstanding actors, a powerful screenplay, fantastic ratings and remarkable foreign sales“, says Petra Müller, CEO of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.

„Generation War¨ is the story of a group of five young friends whose paths separate in Berlin in 1941 and undergo many fateful twists through to the end of the war in 1945. The historical three-parter is a co-production by ZDF and teamWorx in association with Betafilm and ZDF Enterprises and shot for 20 of its 86 shooting days in NRW.

The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported the production with 900,000 Euros, additional funding came from FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the nordmedia fund. To date, ¨Generation War“ has been sold to 148 countries and received numerous national and international prizes. They included the 2013 German Television Prize for „Best Mini-Series“, the Bambi 2013, the Prix Europa for „Best Mini-Series“, „Prix de la meilleure fiction européenne“, the Bavarian Television Prize, seven awards from the German Academy for Television in 2013, two awards at the Prix Italia as well as a prize from the Mill Valley Film Festival. In addition, ¨Generation War¨ was awarded a Golden Kamera in the ¨Best TV Movie¨ category.

As the leading German TV production hub, NRW has had a presence at the Television Festival since 2009 and is represented each year by a delegation of TV professionals. This year saw the following attending as part of the delegation: the NRW producers Leopold Hoesch (Broadview TV, „Nowitzki – The Perfect Shot“), Michael Souvignier (Zeitsprung, „Landauer – Der Präsident“), Sam Davis (Rowboat, „Das Wunder von Kärnten“) and Friedhelm Bixschlag (MMC Studios Cologne) as well as Jörg Graf (RTL Television) and Michael Loeb (WDR Mediagroup). Jan Josef Liefers („Tatort Münster“) and Anna Loos („Helen Dorn“) were in New York as actors representing strong TV productions "made in NRW", while the Cologne-based comedian Carolin Kebekus and the stand-up comic Serdar Somuncu flew the flag for comedy and entertainment.

The festival and the awards ceremony were then followed on Tuesday by a meeting of 20 German and international TV executives at the traditional „Annual NRW Rendez-Vous“, the NRW Lunch, in the Hearst Tower. Those participating included Rola Bauer (Tandem Communications), Jan Mojto (Beta), Oliver Berben (Constantin), Sam Davis (Rowboat), Michael Loeb (WDR mediagroup), Frank-Dieter Freiling (ZDF), Matthijs Wouter Knol (European Film Market) and Leopold Hoesch (Broadview TV). Sandra Stern (Lionsgate TV), Bruce Tuchman (AMC/Sundance Channel Global Networks), Simon Sutton (President, HBO) and Craig Cegielski (FremantleMedia) were among those taking part from the American side.

The media region of NRW and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences have been working together since 2009. Apart from the annual visit by a NRW delegation to the Emmy Festival, the Emmy Ambassador Leopold Hoesch also holds the Emmy Judgings in Cologne each summer.