C aptive won the Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content at the 2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition on Monday (June 13) at the Banff World Media Festival.

The documentary feature took home $25,000 after being ranked top Canadian production by a panel of 150 international industry professionals.

Written and directed by Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung, produced by Antica Productions and distributed by TVO, Captive follows the stories of girls and women who have been kidnapped in North-Eastern Nigeria, and the physical, psychological, and social scars of abduction, rape and violence they had to endure as a result.

The Francophone Prize for the top French-language production was awarded to Canadian dramedy series Audrey est revenue (Audrey’s Back) (pictured), produced by Pixcom and Quebecor Content. The 10 x 30-minute series was directed by Guillaume Lonergan and co-written by Guillaume Lambert and Florence Longpré, produced by Marie-Ève Pelletier and executive produced by Nicola Merola and Charles Lafortune.

Canadian programs took home a total of five awards in the International Competition Program, including Employable Me from Toronto-based Thomas Howe Associates, which took home best lifestyle program; and Six Degrees (Six Degrés) from Encore Télévision, which won best in live action: youth.

A Nation and Her Mother, a slam-poetry style short based on Jean Teillet’s book The Northwest Is Our Mother, won for best short non-fiction program. It is from Winnipeg’s Animiki See Digital Production, Media RendezVous, Wookey Films, and APTN.

CBC Kids Tokyo 2020 Olympic Website won best in interactive content: children, and Karma’s World from Toronto’s 9 Story Media Group, Ireland’s Brown Bag Films, and Netflix U.S.A. won best in animation: children.

Hosted by Canadian actress and comedian Rakhee Morzaria, the Rockie Awards ceremony was held in-person after two years of virtual presentations due to the pandemic. The competition featured 148 nominations from 45 countries including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.

Productions from the U.K. racked up the most wins this year with 12, followed by the U.S. with nine. Norway received two awards, while productions from Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Italy, France, Australia and Germany won one award each.

Surviving 9/11 from director Arthur Cary and the U.K.’s BBC, Keshet and Top Hat won for best history and biography offering. The documentary feature follows 13 individuals who survived the titular catastrophe.

Landscapers, a drama inspired by the true events of an ordinary British couple who become the focus of a murder investigation, was awarded for best limited series. It is produced by the U.K.’s SISTER in association with South of the River Pictures for HBO and Sky Studios.

Best English-language comedy series was awarded to We Are Lady Parts, produced by the UK’s Working Title TV in association with Universal International Studios and Universal Studio Group. Meanwhile, the award for best comedy series: non-English language went to Norway’s Countrymen (Jordbrukerne) from Rubicon TV AS.

Vigil from British prodco World Productions and starring Suranne Jones won for best drama series: English language, while HBO Max’s Danish series Kamikaze from director Kaspar Munk and producer Ditte Milsted won for best non-English language drama series.

Help from UK-based prodco The Forge in association with Channel 4, All3Media International and starring Stephen Graham and Jodie Comer, won for best feature-length film. Audible’s Australian production The Orchard, directed by Bharat Nalluri, took home the prize for best fiction podcast. Best non-fiction podcast went to BBC’s Have You Heard George’s Podcast?

@IAmSophieScholl, a German social media series on Instagram following Nazi resistance fighter Sophie Scholl’s story, was awarded the best short fiction program. It is produced by Sommerhaus Serien, VICE Media and Unframed Productions for SWR & BR.

In kids projects, Odo, created by UK-based Sixteen South Originals and co-produced by Sixteen South Studios and Poland’s Letko, won for best in animation: preschool, while Italy’s The Case (La custodia) took the win for best in animation: youth. The best in live action for children went to BBC’s Jamie Johnson.

Rounding out this year’s International Program Competition winners were HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion for best comedy and variety program; World of Wonder’s RuPaul’s Drag Race for best in competition series and game shows; The Earthshort Prize: Repairing Our Planet from BBC and Discovery Channel for best docuseries; and National Geographic’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls for best reality series.

Other winners included Liddell Entertainment’s Introducing Selma Blair (best arts and culture program), Kilometric Productions’ Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad (best crime and investigative program); Plimsoll Production’s Tiny World (best environmental and wildlife program); National Geographic Documentary Film’s Own the Room (best science and technology program); Tigerlily Productions’ Dying to Divorce (best social issues and current affairs program); and Wilderpeople Productions’ Torn (best sports documentary).

Image courtesy of Pixcom.