The French-language series Empathie from screenwriter Lorence Longpre picked up the Grand Jury Prize at the Banff World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards on Tuesday night.
The Canadian series from Trio Orange, which also won for best non-English language drama, the Prix Francophone and the Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content, sees Longpre play a criminologist-turned-psychiatrist in a Montreal hospital where she meets an eclectic group of patients. “I would like to thank the whole team for this Rockie Award,” Longpre said in a pre-taped video to accept the Grand Jury Prize at the Rockie Awards.
And in the best English-language drama category, HBO’s The Pitt took top honors, beating out Canada’s Heated Rivalry and Plan B series, another U.S. series in The Handmaid’s Tale and the British drama Reckless. “As a Canadian boy, it’s so good to be home, I have to say,” R. Scott Gemmill, the series creator and a Canadian-born writer and producer, said when accepting the honor at the gala ceremony in the Canadian Rockies.
Elsewhere, the best English-language comedy honor went to HBO’s The Chair Company, and Malin Akerman won for best drama performance for her turn in Netflix’s The Hunting Wives. “This role is one of my favorite roles I’ve ever got to play. She is one spicy gal,” Akerman said of her performance as Margo Banks when coming on stage at the Banff Springs Hotel’s conference center to pick up her award.
