2021 INTERNATIONAL EMMY® WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT GALA IN NEW YORK
International Academy Returns to In-Person Ceremony
Call My Agent! Season 4 (France) Wins Comedy
Tehran (Israel) Wins Drama Series
Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice Garners First Emmy® for a Program from Thailand
Actors David Tennant and Hayley Squires Win Best Performance Categories
NEW YORK, November 22, 2021 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 49th International Emmy® Awards tonight at an in-person Black-Tie Gala event in New York City. The Gala was attended by television professionals from around the world and hosted by actress and comedian Yvonne Orji at the Great Hall of Casa Cipriani.
“We are delighted to be able to gather the global television community, in-person again, in New York to celebrate the world’s best television.” said International Academy President & CEO Bruce Paisner. “The diversity and geographic spread of tonight’s winners demonstrate once again the universal power of great storytelling and performances.”
1 Special Award and 11 Emmy® statues were presented by the International Academy during the evening.
Former NBA Player and NBA Champion with the Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki presented the International Emmy® Directorate Award to Dr. Thomas Bellut, Director General of German public broadcaster ZDF, one of Europe’s major and most renowned broadcasters.
The 11 winning International Emmy® programs and performances span 8 countries: France, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, PR China, Thailand, the UK and the US. They are: Kubrick by Kubrick (Arts Programming), David Tennant (Best Performance by an Actor), Hayley Squires (Best Performance by an Actress), Call my Agent ! – Season 4 (Comedy), Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice (Documentary), Tehran (Drama Series), 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards® (Non-English Language US Primetime Program), The Masked Singer (Non-Scripted Entertainment), INSiDE (Short-Form Series), The Song of Glory (Telenovela) and Atlantic Crossing (TV Movie/Mini-Series). Complete winners’ information follows this release.
David Tennant accepted the Emmy® for Best Performance by an Actor for his role as serial killer Dennis Nilsen in Des.
Hayley Squires accepted the Emmy® for Best Performance by an Actress for her role as British porn star Jolene Dollar in Adult Material.
Documentary Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice garnered the first ever Emmy® for a program from Thailand.
2021 International Emmy® Awards Winners
Arts Programming
Kubrick By Kubrick
Temps Noir / Telemark / Arte France
France
Producers: Martin Laurent, Jérémy Zelnik, Maciej Kubicki, Anna Kepinska
Director: Gregory Monro
Stanley Kubrick’s mark on the legacy of cinema can never be measured. Through Michel Ciment, a film critic internationally known for being an expert on Stanley Kubrick, and our advisor for this film, we have access to a series of rare interviews that occurred during their 30 years of friendship.
Best Performance by an Actress
Hayley Squires in Adult Material
Fifty Fathoms Productions
United Kingdom
Hayley Squires plays leading British pornstar Jolene Dollar in Lucy Kirkwood’s new drama Adult Material. Juggling on-set glamour and motherhood at home, Jolene is a poster girl for the industry; respected, aspirational, happy. Through her eyes we see a world that isn’t driven by exploitation, but by opportunity for working class women.
Short-Form Series
INSiDE
Luminous Beast
New Zealand
Producers: Peter Salmon, Liz DiFiore
Director: Peter Salmon
Writers: Dan Musgrove, Shoshana McCallum, Thomas Sainsbury, Kura Forrester, Nic Sampson
Principal Cast: Morgana O’Reilly, Josh Thomson, Sam Snedden
Reclusive tech expert, Rose, is in lockdown and hacking stranger’s video calls – her only hit of human interaction. But when she reconnects with an old bully, Rose finds herself sharing a bubble with a ghost from her past. Rose must work out what is real and what is part of the pandemic.
Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program
21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards®
Univision Network / The Latin Recording Academy
United States
Executive Producers: Jose Tillan, Charlie Singer, Ignacio Meyer, Raj Kapoor, Ulises Chang
Producer: Terry Lickona
Director: Marcelo Gama
Writers : Cesar Muñoz, Manuel Alvarez, Sandra Aragon, Sergio Jablon
Principal Cast : Ana Brenda Contreras, Victor Manuelle, Yalitza Aparicio
The 21st Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards® aired on Nov. 19 with the theme “Music Makes Us Human.” It featured performances from around the world and was a celebration of musical excellence and the power of music, bringing us together through stories of hope, community, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Documentary
Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice
2050 Productions / Netflix
Thailand
Executive Producer: Amanda Feldon
Producer: Pailin Wedel
Director: Pailin Wedel
Writers: Pailin Wedel, Nina Ijas
This documentary follows a Thai scientist and his family as they decide to cryogenically freeze their cherished, dying toddler.
Non-Scripted Entertainment
The Masked Singer
Bandicoot Scotland / ITV
United Kingdom
Executive Producers: Claire Horton, Derek McLean, Daniel Nettleton
Producer: Marc Bassett
Director: Simon Staffurth
Writers: Les Keen, Aiden Spackman
Principal Cast: Joel Dommett, Ken Jeong, Davina McCall, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross
The Masked Singer is a reality singing competition hosted by Joel Dommett and featuring Ken Jeong, Davina McCall, Rita Ora, and Jonathan Ross. 12 celebrities compete inside elaborate character costumes as viewers and the panel speculate on who could be behind the mask.
TV Movie/Mini-Series
Atlantic Crossing
Cinenord / Beta Film / PBS / SVT/ DR / Nevision / NRK
Norway
Executive Producers: Tone Rønning, Justus Riesenkampff, Friedemann Goez, Alexander Eik, Susanne Simpson, Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Sofia Helin, James Cabourne, Sofie Wanting Hassing
Producer: Silje Hopland Eik
Director: Alexander Eik
Writers: Linda May Kallestein, Alexander Eik
Principal Cast: Sofia Helin, Kyle MacLachlan, Tobias Santelmann, Søren Pilmark, Harriet Sansom Harris, Lucy Russel, Daniel Betts
A princess steals the heart of the President of the United States in an epic drama based on the relationship of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Norwegian Crown Princess Martha, who fights to save her country. Based on true events, a unique perspective on the tragic events of WWII.
Best Performance by an Actor
David Tennant in Des
New Pictures / ITV
United Kingdom
An outwardly meek Scottish civil servant, Dennis Nilsen is unexpectedly cooperative when he is arrested, freely admitting to killing ‘15 or 16’ victims. He revels in the attention from both the police and the press, but both sides soon learn that trying to decipher a serial killer is a dangerous game.
Telenovela
The Song of Glory
China Huace Film & TV Co., Ltd / Croton Cultural Media Co., Ltd / Croton Entertainment Co., Ltd / Shanghai Tencent Penguin Film / Culture Communication Co., Ltd / Jolly Orange Studio
PR China
Executive Producers: Xingchen Huang, Ni Xue
Producer: Ying Wang
Director: Wei Chu Lee
Writer: Mengzhang Wu
Principal Cast: Qin Li, Hao Qin
The Song of Glory tells the story of the chivalrous woman Li Ge and the governor Liu Yikang who after many tribulations, get married, join hands to defend the country, and jointly create a prosperous and peaceful world.
Comedy
Call My Agent! – Season 4
Mon Voisin Productions / Mother Productions / France Télévision / Netflix
France
Producers : Dominique Besnehard, Michel Feller, Harold Valentin, Aurélien Larger
Directors : Marc Fitoussi, Antoine Garceau
Writers: Fanny Herrero (Created by), Victor Reodenbach (Head Writer)
At a top Paris talent firm, agents scramble to keep their star clients happy – and their business afloat – after an unexpected crisis.
Drama Series
Tehran
Donna and Shula Productions / Paper Plane Productions
Israel
Executive Producers: Dana Eden, Shula Spiegel, Alon Aranya, Julien Leroux, Peter Emerson, Moshe Zonder, Eldad Koblenz, Dimitris Michalakis
Director: Daniel Syrkin
Writers: Moshe Zonder, Omri Shenhar
Principal Cast: Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub, Navid Negahban, Shervin Alenabi, Menashe Noy, Liraz Charhi
Tehran tells the story of a Mossad agent who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy.
About The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a membership-based organization comprised of leading media and entertainment figures from over 60 countries and 500 companies from all sectors of television including internet, mobile and technology. The Academy’s yearly schedule of events includes the prestigious International Emmy® Awards held in New York, The International Emmy® Kids Awards at Mip Junior and a series of industry events such as Academy Day, The International Emmy® World Television Festival and Panels on substantive industry topics. The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes excellence in television produced outside of the United States, as well as US Primetime programs produced in languages other than English, with the prestigious Emmy® Award. Currently celebrating programming across varied areas including: Arts Programming, Current Affairs, Comedy, Documentary, Drama Series, News, Non-Scripted Entertainment, Short-Form Series, Telenovela, and TV Movie/Mini-Series, it also recognizes excellence in Performances and Kids programming. For more information go to www.iemmys.tv
Media Contacts
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Eva Obadia, Senior Director, Communications & Partnerships
eva.obadia@iemmys.tv
The Lippin Group
Matt Biscuiti
matt@lippingroup.com