Mum, I Won an International Emmy Award! - Ukrainian Director Receives Prestigious TV Honour
Ukrainian director Volodymyr Mula, alongside British director and producer Alex Gale, has received the prestigious Emmy Award, regarded as the television equivalent of the Oscars. Volodymyr Mula announced the achievement on his Facebook page.
The award was given in the “Documentary Series” category for the four-part series “Football Must Go On,” which chronicles the life of Ukrainian football club Shakhtar and their participation in the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League season against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Work on the series began in August 2022, and it premiered on 12 September 2023 on the “Paramount +” platform.
“Mum, I won an International Emmy Award. This award is for all of Ukraine!” Volodymyr Mula emotionally commented on receiving the award.
“Football Must Go On” surpassed four other nominees: the series about auto racing "Formula 1: Drive to Survive" (Netflix), the baseball series "Hard Knocks" (HBO), the wrestling reality show "Monster Factory" (Apple TV), and the American football series "Quarterback" (Netflix).
It should be noted that The Gaze reported the Ukrainian Film Academy, in collaboration with Netflix, announced a grant programme for screenwriters and producers from Ukraine. The goal of the “Script Development and Exclusive Online Sessions with EAVE Experts” programme is to assist Ukrainian creators in Ukraine and worldwide who have been affected or displaced by the war in continuing and developing their creativity.
Grant recipients will have a series of exclusive online sessions with EAVE experts to discuss key trends in the industry. Individual EAVE sessions will also take place, focusing on script development and project advancement, covering financing and marketing strategies.
The programme is open to original feature films with a duration of 70 minutes or more that are still in the development stage at the time of application.
Under the programme’s terms, one screenwriter can submit a maximum of one project, and one producer can participate in only one submitted project. All submitted projects will be evaluated by four international industry experts who are not allowed to submit their own works for the competition.