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Matchbox’s ‘Safe Harbour’ wins International Emmy

EPISODE 1

‘Safe Harbour’. 

Matchbox Pictures drama Safe Harbour has won the International Emmy Award for Best TV Movie/Miniseries.

The four-part psychological thriller beat out fellow nominees Lust Stories (India), Se Eu Fechar Os Olhos Agora [If I Close My Eyes Now] (Brazil) and Trezor (Hungary).

First commissioned by SBS, Safe Harbour follows a group of Aussie friends who come across a broken-down boat full of desperate asylum-seekers while on a yachting holiday. The Australians decide to tow the refugees, but the next morning the boat is gone. Years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth: someone cut the rope between the boats and, as a result, seven people died.

Safe Harbour was scripted by Belinda Chayko (who also served as the showrunner), Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier; directed by Glendyn Ivin; produced by Stephen Corvini, and stars Ewen Leslie, Phoebe Tonkin, Jacqueline McKenzie, Leeanna Walsman, Joel Jackson, Nicole Chamoun, Hazem Shammas and Robert Rabiah. The series sold to Hulu in the US and BBC4 in the UK.

Held in New York, the International Emmy Awards were hosted by Aussie comedian and Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng. Eleven Emmy Statues and two special awards presented during the ceremony, with winners spanning eight countries. Other nominees included Princess Pictures’ Wrong Kind of Black in the short-form category, and Jenna Coleman for Best Performance by an Actress for her role in Synchronicity Films’ The Cry.

Television is a universal art form which transcends cultures, languages and borders, as demonstrated by tonight’s winners.” said International Academy president abd CEO Bruce L. Paisner.

“The International Academy is proud to be the preeminent global platform for recognizing excellence in television from around the world.”

Full list of winners:

Arts Programming

Dance or Die
Witfilm / NTR
Netherlands

Best Performance by an Actor

Haluk Bilginer in Şahsiyet [Persona]
Ay Yapım / Puhu TV
Turkey

Best Performance by an Actress

Marina Gera in Örök Tél [Eternal Winter]
Szupermodern Studio Ltd.
Hungary

Comedy

Especial de Natal Porta dos Fundos [The Last Hangover]
Porta dos Fundos
Brazil

Documentary

Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World
Submarine Amsterdam / VPRO
Netherlands

Drama Series

McMafia
Cuba Pictures / BBC / AMC
United Kingdom

Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program

Falco
Spiral International / Red Arrow Studios International / Dynamo
United States of America

Non-Scripted Entertainment

The Real Full Monty: Ladies’ Night
Spun Gold TV / ITV

United Kingdom

Short-Form Series

Hack the City
Fox Lab / Yourmama
Brazil

Telenovela

La Reina del Flow
Teleset / Caracol Television
Colombia

TV Movie/Mini-Series

Safe Harbour
Matchbox Pictures
Australia