Nominees Announced for Rose d’Or

LUCERNE/LONDON: The nominees have been revealed for the 49th Rose d’Or Festival, which will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 2 to 5.

A new record of 424 programs, a 6-percent increase on last year’s participants, have been entered to compete for the Rose d’Or Award. These programs were entered by 170 companies from 33 countries. From these, the pre-selection jury selected 79 programs from 53 companies across 18 countries to compete in their respective categories. "This marked increase in entries stands testament to the international importance of winning a Rose d’Or," said festival director Urban Frye. "The prestige attached to winning this award represents a significant business advantage to a program, particularly in complicated economic times."

Among the nominees in the arts documentary category are BBC Productions’ Imagine…The Story of the Guitar and Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied, as well as A Bit of a Fillum: Ryan’s Daughter in Dingle from RTE. Those in the comedy category include Armoza Format’s The Saddest Sketch Show in the World, Harry & Paul from Tiger Aspect Productions and The Wrong Door, a BBC production for BBC Three. In the drama realm, Being Erica from Temple Street Productions is up against, among others, The Bill & Soko Leipzig from Talkback Thames and Windfall & Misfortunes from Locomotion Television.

In the entertainment category, nominees include Endemol’s Wipeout, the BBC’s Last Choir Standing and ITV’s Take That Come to Town. Game shows up for the award include Clockwise, represented by SevenOne International, Endemol’s Estate of Panic and ITV’s Relentless from Zig Zag Productions and The Colour of Money from 12 Yard Productions.

In the multiplatform category, are, among others, ITV’s Britannia High, The Germans: A Millenium of History from ZDF and Skins from Company Pictures/Storm Dog Films. Performing arts contenders include Seven Gates of Jerusalem from TVP, BBC Four Sessions: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Later…Live with Jools Holland, from BBC Productions for BBC Two. Best pitch pilot nominees feature the likes of Endemol’s 20Q, Armoza’s UPGRADE from Tiger Aspect Productions and We Love the Night Life from Lipsync Productions.

SevenOne’s The Wedding I Did(n’t) Have will face off against reality contenders such as Small World IFT’s I Survived a Japanese Game Show, the BBC’s Undercover Princes, Golden Oldies from Metronome Productions and Make it Short!, a Distraction Formats property. Best sitcom nominees include the BBC’s Beautiful People, WestWind Pictures’ Little Mosque on the Prairie and My Family from DLT Entertainment/Rude Boy.

As previously announced, Sheena Macdonald, the director of special projects at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), and George Anthony, the creative consultant for TV arts and entertainment at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), have been chosen as the recipients of this year’s Honorary Rose Award.