|
Emmys to honour Al Gore
19/11/2007 12:16 - (SA)
|
|
|
 |
|
| Former US Vice President Al Gore will receive a special honour at the 35th annual International Emmy Awards in New York. (Manu Fernandez, AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New York - Al Gore can add another award to his growing collection that already includes an Oscar, an Emmy and the Nobel Peace Prize when actor-director Robert De Niro presents the former US vice president with a special honour on Monday night at the 35th annual International Emmy Awards.
British television productions garnered a leading eight International Emmy nominations, including two for the BBC1's The Street, which follows the lives of different residents of a Manchester street - for best drama series and best actor, Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent, who plays an embittered pensioner.
Brazil finished a close second with a record seven nominations, five of which went to TV Globo productions, including Elis Regina Special: All My Life for arts programming.
Japan had four nominations, followed by South Africa with three, including two for Home Affairs - for best drama and best actress, Brenda Ngxoli, who plays the role of Vuyo in the series about the lives of a diverse group of South African women.
Germany, Denmark, China and the Netherlands had two nominations apiece. Colombia received its first nomination ever, for the documentary In God's Hands.
The International Emmys honour excellence in TV programming produced outside the US.
Interactive Current TV
Gore will be receiving the International Emmy Founders Award not only in recognition of his role in raising the alarm about global warming, but also for his efforts in launching the interactive Current TV, said Bruce Paisner, president and CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
"One of the main criteria of that award is someone who does something to promote our common humanity ... and in terms of the cause he took up with climate change he really has done that," Paisner said in a telephone interview.
The award also honours Gore's work as co-chairperson and co-founder of Current TV. "He looks at Current as being the first major vehicle at the intersection of television and the internet, and that's a very important thing in terms of our industry," Paisner said.
Current, a cable and satellite television network with an integrated website, relies on viewer-created "pods," or short video segments, for about a third of its on-air content. It is now available in more than 50 million households in the US, Britain and Ireland.
"It is a way for viewers to make television theirs as opposed to just the broadcasters'," said Paisner.
'Depth and quality of TV production'
Paisner said this year's 38 nominees in nine categories represent a more diversified and broader field than ever before, spread among 16 countries.
"The depth and quality of television production is just improving at a rapid pace all over the world," said Paisner, who is also president of Hearst Entertainment. "You get entries now from China or Brazil, and except for the language you would think they were coming from some place which you thought traditionally had the highest standards. They are now setting standards that are world-class standards."
Among the best actor and actress nominees expected at Monday's gala at the Hilton New York Hotel are Ngxoli, Muriel Robin (Marie Besnard - The Poisoner, France), Victoria Wood (Housewife, 49, Britain), Lazaro Ramos (Snakes & Lizards, Brazil), Lila Cabral (Pages of Life, Brazil), Pierre Bokma (The Chosen One, the Netherlands), and Bobby AuYeung Chun Wah (Dicey Business, Hong Kong, China).
British comedian Stephen Fry, who was nominated in the documentary category for The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive about his own and other people's experiences of living with bipolar disorder, also was expected to attend.
French network expanded
French actress Carole Bouquet will present the International Emmy Directorate Award to Patrick Le Lay, chairperson of the TF1 Group, for his role in expanding the French network into one of the largest in Europe.
The event, hosted by Roger Bart (Desperate Housewives), currently starring in the Broadway musical Young Frankenstein, will feature several celebrity presenters from US television, including Sam Waterston (Law & Order), Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), Rob Morrow (Numb3rs) and George Wendt (Cheers).
The academy is the largest organisation of global broadcasters with more than 500 members from nearly 70 countries and over 400 companies.
- AP
|
