BBC Ukraine War Doc ‘Hell Jumper’ Wins Grand Jury Prize

Hell Jumper, a BBC documentary film about a young British aid worker, Chris Parry, killed during a battle in Ukraine, earned the Grand Jury Prize at the Banff World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards on Monday night.

Hell Jumper, directed by Paddy Wivell, also picked up the best social issues and current affairs program. “We all live in a world where we all struggle with our sense of impotence over seemingly impossible global forces. But Chris’s story tells us the value and potential of a single life, and I’d really like to dedicate this award to him and his family,” Wivell said on stage when accepting his awards.

Wivell also dedicated the Grand Jury Prize to Ukrainians who were forced to flee the war zone in the heart of Europe after the invasion of their country by Russia.

Also at the Rockie Awards, Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal was named best English-language drama, while the BBC’s The Graham Norton Show, for the second year in a row, received the best comedy and variety series. The BBC also prevailed with The Traitors UK winning for best competition series, and The Travel Show – Vietnam: Return to Banana Garden Market took home the honors for best lifestyle series.

Elsewhere, the best docuseries crown went to Hulu’s three-parter Black Twitter: A People’s History from Onyx Collective. An emotional high point for the evening came when John Wick 4 actor Shamier Anderson introduced his younger brother, Stephan James, to receive the Canadian Award of Distinction.

James, star of If Beale Street Could Talk, Homecoming and Selma, when accepting the trophy, gave a shout-out to Canada as a native son. “The culture, the perspective, and this country has always had a quiet magic, this mix of humility and power. We don’t always shout our greatness to the rooftops, but trust me, the world is watching this, and they’re watching what we’re building,” James said on stage at the Banff Springs Hotel ballroom.

This year saw Banff merge the Rockie Awards and the Banff Gala Awards, which saw U.S. series compete against the best of the world, including perennial rivals, UK producers. The host of the evening was Mark Suknanan, also known as drag queen Priyanka, winner of Canada’s Drag Race competition series.

Priyanka told the Rockie Awards audience that she took the hosting gig when her Los Angeles manager asked if the TV personality wanted to leave America. “Yes, I want to leave America. Please get my scrawny, brown Canadian ass away from ICE and into the Rockies, where there’s literally ice, preferably topped with vodka and a squeeze of lemon,” she said.

Australian TV producers fared well this year as the best reality series trophy went to The Jury: Death on the Staircase. That true crime event, based on the Channel Four format, reenacted a real manslaughter case, word-for-word by actors, before a new jury of 12 ordinary Australians.

Also in the crime realm, the best investigative series went to Sugarcane, a Canada-USA documentary about horrifying stories from Canada’s controversial Indigenous residential schools. Another award winner in Banff was Phil Rosenthal, best known for his TV shows Everybody Loves Raymond and Somebody Feed Phil.

The award was given to Rosenthal by Lori O’Connor, executive vp and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, and Mikey O’Connell, a writer and editor at The Hollywood Reporter. “I just want to say you all seem very nice. You’re exactly the type of people who should be travelling, because we need to export nice, especially today,” Rosenthal said.

The evening struck another emotional note when the late Carrie Hunter, the founding director of the Banff World Media Festival, was honored by her daughter, Kendall Hunter. The Carrie Hunter Emerging Talent Prize went to Marushka Almeida, Nisha Khan, Rabiya Mansoor for Get Up, Aisha.

“We dedicate this award to everyone who has felt the need to hide their struggles,” Almeida said, then picking up the trophy for the TV drama about Aisha, a Pakistani-Canadian student who is on a mental health journey to battle her compulsive need for control.

And on hand to accept the Country of Honor trophy on behalf of South Korea was Korean Creative Content Agency president Hyun Suk Yoo, as he reflected on K-content increasingly feeding a growing global audience. Other prize-giving included The Simpsons winning against in Banff for best animated series, and the best English language comedy series trophy going to We Are Lady Parts, from the UK and the U.S.

On the acting front, the best comedy performance honor went to David Mitchell for his role in the BBC’s Ludwig. And the best drama performance crown went to Marisa Abela for her star turn in Industry, from HBO and the BBC.

On the movie side, the best feature film prize went to Out of My Mind, the Disney+ coming-of-age drama. Also on Monday night, legendary composer Hans Zimmer received the Career Achievement Award, after creating scores for Dune: Part One, Top Gun: Maverick, No Time to Die, Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception.

Zimmer, unable to attend Banff in person, had his Bleeding Fingers business partner, Russell Emanuel, read out his acceptance speech. “To the storytellers, the directors and producers who’ve trusted us with their vision, thank you for letting us be part of something bigger than ourselves. Every project teaches you something, and every collaboration makes you better. Thank you for this recognition and the honor,” Zimmer stated.    

The full list of Rockie Awards International Program Competition winners is available here.