‘Wrong Kind of Black’.
Two Australian short-form series have won Rockie Awards at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada.
Princess Pictures’ Wrong Kind of Black won the Web Fiction Award for the portrayal of the life of Indigenous DJ Boori Monty Pryor, while The Twist, an animated factual series produced by Broken Yellow, won the Animation Award for its innovative take on intriguing Australian true crime stories.
Both series were commissioned by the ABC.
ABC head of drama, comedy and Indigenous Sally Riley said: “The ABC is thrilled to win two Rockie Awards at the Banff World Media Festival, demonstrating how outstanding Australian content connects with people here and overseas.
“Congratulations to our teams and partners, Princess Pictures and Broken Yellow, for bringing Wrong Kind of Black and The Twist to life for digital audiences, leading the charge for the ABC’s original and diverse content across multiple platforms.”
Princess Pictures EP Andrea Denholm said: “The power of Boori’s story was clear to us from the moment we heard it and we are thrilled that the film struck a chord in such a prestigious international competition. We are proud of the talented team who worked so hard to bring this distinctly Australian story to the world and thank the ABC and Screen Australia for their foresight and faith in the project.”
Broken Yellow EP Navid Bahadori said: “The Twist came in as underdogs into Banff, up against some incredible animations from across the world. The Broken Yellow team worked for almost two years crafting each episode, so it’s such an honour to be recognised by the international film community.”
Other big winners at the Rockie Awards included BBC thriller Bodyguard, which won the Drama Series: English Language Award, and HBO’s Barry, which won best English-language comedy, and Sharp Objects, which won best limited series.