Irish Television programme judged best in the world

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An RTÉ True Lives documentary, which broadcast to wide audience acclaim in February, was last night acclaimed by an international jury as "the best television programme in the world this year" - against competition that included Hollywood's West Wing and major drama and current affairs from BBC and CBS.

The Banff Rockie Awards 2003 were announced in Canada last night and the Global Television Grand Prize / Grand Prix Global was awarded to Chavez - Inside the Coup, Power Pictures Ltd. in association with RTÉ/ The Irish Film Board/BBC/ZDF/ARTE/NPS/CoBo/ YLE.

The documentary, which depicted the overthrow and return to power of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in a coup in 2002, was directed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha Ó Briain and produced by David Power of the Galway-based independent company. The company had secured unique access to President Chavez for an observational documentary and were with him in the Presidential Palace in Caracas when the coup took place.

Chavez - Inside the Coup was seed-funded by RTÉ and received early financial support from the Irish Film Board. It was then pitched by RTÉ at international documentary financing markets in order to raise its budget and secure completion.

Kevin Dawson, Commissioning Editor of Factual Programmes at RTÉ Television, said: "This award is a wonderful achievement for the film and for Power Pictures - an Irish independent production company which tackled a major international documentary subject and produced one of the most memorable documentary films of recent times."

The world premiere of the documentary on RTÉ last February resulted in hundreds of telephone calls and messages from RTÉ viewers acclaiming the documentary and asking for a repeat showing. The documentary was shown again in peaktime in March.

In announcing the award the Jury President Trina McQueen described the programme as: "A wonderful story, brilliantly told. The energy and pace of this documentary, combined with remarkable insider footage, make it a thrilling experience for the viewer. The meticulous journalism of this program exposes the mendacious journalism of others. A combination of intelligence, passion, and humour illuminates this controversial tale of big oil, international intrigue, charismatic leadership, class struggle, revolution and ultimately, the hopes of people for real democracy."

The programme won its category of Information and Current Affairs - a category dominated by documentaries, which dealt with 9/11 or the follow on in terms of Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the jurors were of the view that Chavez - Inside the Coup raised some of the same troubling issues from a markedly different perspective.

Reading the citation for Chavez - Inside the Coup Loran Mahwhinny, Vice President of Canadian Production at the Global Television Network described this programme as being, in the view of the international jury, "the best television programme in the world this year".

Accepting the award RTÉ's Managing Director Organisation and Development, Liam Miller, said it was an honour to do so on behalf of the young, committed and courageous programme makers Power Pictures. He acknowledged the support of the community of broadcasters and other institutions who had been convinced by the producers that Hugo Chavez was a story that needed to be told to the world.

Power Productions latest documentary for True Lives is a two part behind-the-scenes look at the work of wedding planners. The Wedding Planner will be shown on RTÉ ONE tonight at 10pm and the second part can be seen next Tuesday 16 June 2003.

Issued by RTÉ Communications

Date: Tuesday 10 June 2003

Further information: Majella O Doherty, Public Relations Co-ordinator Tel : 01 2082305/ 087 294 0875

Editor's Note:

The Banff Television Foundation is a media event management organisation for some of the world's leading television and new media industry events, including the Banff Television Festival, the World Congress of History Producers, the World Congress of Science Producers and the Alliance Atlantis Banff Television Executive Program.