Golden Rose Winners Awarded at Rose d’Or

LUCERNE, May 10: On the final evening of the 47th
edition of the Rose d’Or Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland, seven Golden Roses
were awarded, with U.K. productions dominating the group of winners and
Croatian and Welsh-language drama series scoring wins for the first time.

Well-known British comedian Ben Elton, who, earlier in the
festival, was awarded the Honorary Rose for his lifetime contribution to the
arts, hosted the evening’s festivities. The festival received a record 358
entries, with 72 programs nominated for the Golden Rose awards. A group of 19
jury members narrowed this field to the top winners in each of the following
categories: Art Documentary, Comedy, Performing Arts, Reality, Show, Sitcom and
Soap, as well as the Opera Special Prize and the Best of 2007 Special Prize.
There were also three special mentions for productions from Germany, the
Netherlands and South Africa.

The 120-minute documentary film Young @ Heart, produced by Walker George Films, won in the Art
Documentary category. Young @ Heart follows
chorus members, including a 93-year-old woman, as they prepare a new show. Young
@ Heart also won the Best of 2007 award.
The comedy series The Vicar of Dibley, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC One, garnered a win in the Comedy Category. The 29-minute animated film Peter and the Wolf, produced
by Breakthru Films, came out on top in
the Performing Arts category. Channel 4 serves as broadcaster for the film,
which is a new animated version of Prokofiev's children’s classic that is
celebrating its 70th anniversary. Another U.K. production, the 5×1-hour Secret
Millionaire from RDF Media, received the
top nod in the Reality category. In the Show category, the one-hour game/talk
show The Pyramid won out. Produced by Castor Multimedia, it is broadcast and
distributed by Croatian Television. The 30-minute series Not Going Out, produced by Avalon Television, garnered a win in the Sitcom
category. Broadcast on BBC One, the series is centered on two flat mates whose
friendship moves into uncharted waters. For the Soap category, the one-hour
Welsh-language drama Con Passionate from
Teledu Apollo won. The series is
distributed by S4C.

The Opera Special Prize went to the one-hour special Man
on the Moon, produced by Tiger Aspect
productions and distributed by Channel 4 International. The special is based on the first moon landing in
1969.

There were also three Special Mentions. The Performing Arts
Special Mention went to the 28-minute
film Car Men, produced by the
Netherlands-based Nederlandse Programma Stichting (NPS); the Soap Special
Mention went to the one-hour
series Home Affairs, which is
produced by Penguin Films and broadcast in South Africa by SABC; and the Opera
Special Mention went to the one-hour German special Mozart22-Le Nozze
di Figaro, produced by Bernhard Fleischer
Moving Images and distributed by Unitel.

“The winners demonstrate a fantastic and diverse field of
programming from big-budget productions in the U.K. to small, yet strong and
highly creative programs from around the world,” commented Urban Frye, festival
director. “The Rose d’Or is one of the most important festivals for
entertainment and cultural programs. My heart beats for such programming and
this festival has proved that one can create cultural programs that attract
everyone.”