Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts has the distinction of being one of the few television programs I couldn't watch to the end because it was too powerful, too well-crafted in its examination of Hurricane Katrina as a natural disaster with racial and class aftershocks. It now has the less backhanded and more prestigious distinction of being the grand prize winner at the 28th annual Banff World Television Awards – popularly known as the Rockies.
“This genuinely seminal work that will leave a creative – and political – legacy for years to come,” said this year’s Banff International Jury Chair Slawko Klymkiw.
The Rockies are truly international awards, with over 800 entries submitted in 20 categories from 39 countries and territories. The Vicar of Dibley from the UK won in the comedy category for the episode "The Handsome Stranger," while the pilot for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip from the United States won in the continuing series category. The UK's controversial Death of a President, which depicted the assassination of George W. Bush, was named best TV movie, and Eastenders, also from the UK, won in the telenovela and drama serials category.
New media are included in the Banff awards as well, with the US's Darfur is Dying appointed best Internet only program, Canada's Shorts in Motion: The Art of Seduction winning for Mobile Program Enhancement, and the Fallen Alternate Reality Game from the US named as best Interactive Program Enhancement.
Other winners came from Germany, Spain, South Africa, The Netherlands, and France.
A full list of winners is available at the Banff World Television Festival website.
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