Patricia Arquette’s ‘Escape at Dannemora’ Wins at Monte Carlo TV Festival

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Showtime’s “Escape at Dannemora” won the Crystal Nymph in the limited series and TV movie section of the 59th edition of the Monte Carlo Television Festival on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by Michael Douglas, who received a lifetime achievement award from Prince Albert of Monaco.

“Escape at Dannemora’s” Patricia Arquette, playing a female prison employee who helps two convicts to escape, picked up the prize for best actress, and best actor went to Grégory Montel for French drama “Thirst for Life,” in which he plays the husband of an alcoholic, trying to cope with the effects of her illness on the family.

HBO’s Italian-language “My Brilliant Friend,” an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novels, won best drama series. Richard Madden won best actor in the category for political thriller “Bodyguard,” which plays on Netflix in the U.S., and earned record ratings for the BBC in the U.K.

Luxembourgian thesp Vicky Krieps, who was a sensation in “Phantom Thread,” won best actress for Hulu’s “Das Boot,” the spin off from Wolfgang Petersen’s Oscar-nominated movie. Krieps plays a translator who finds herself caught between the French Resistance and a Gestapo officer, played by “Game of Thrones” star Tom Wlaschiha, who was also nominated at Monte Carlo.

“On the Spectrum,” an Israeli series about three roommates, all on the autistic spectrum, won best comedy series. The show also won best actress for Naomi Levov, and best actor for Niv Majar. The series, created by Dana Idisis and Yuval Shafferman, is being adapted for Amazon by Jason Katims, the executive producer of “Parenthood” and “Friday Night Lights.”

In the news category, best documentary went to “Dollar Heroes: North Korea’s Secret Slaves,” and the jury prize went to “Crackdown: The Rule of Law in China.” Best TV news item was CNN’s “Khashoggi Body Double,” and best live breaking news item was won by ITV’s “Good Morning Britain.”

Guests at the ceremony included Rob Lowe, who is appearing in ITV’s “Wild Bill,” Eric McCormack, best known for “Will & Grace,” John Reardon, who appears in “Hudson & Rex,” Lesley Manville, who appears in ITV’s “World on Fire,” and Sally Woodward and Lee Morris, two of the exec producers of “Killing Eve,” which was nominated.

Ricky Whittle, star of “American Gods,” was president of the Fiction jury, and documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy was the president of the News jury.