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Hilary Barry is officially New Zealand’s most popular female broadcaster, picking out Personality of the Year in a category that pitted her, at one point, against Ashley Bloomfield.
Bloomfield withdrew, but before he did, Barry herself joked that she had voted for him.
“Blessed be, he would have totally won this category,” Barry said onstage.
30,000 votes were cast for this town’s election award.
RICKY WILSON / Stuff
Hilary Barry is officially New Zealand’s most popular broadcaster.
Wednesday night’s New Zealand TV Awards saw rugby, marijuana, period dramas and investigative journalism take center stage.
The awards celebrated documentaries such as Patrick Gower: on marijuana, as well as dramas including The luminaires at a star-studded event in Auckland. Gower dedicated his award to his late mother, Joan Gower.
Gower spoke about her mother in the documentary, asking if legalized cannabis could have helped her overcome pain at the end of her life. In a prerecorded speech from a managed isolation facility, Gower was critical of how expensive medical cannabis is while dedicating the award to his mother.
David White / Stuff
Patrick Gower has won an award for his documentary on cannabis.
“She never saw me work on television, and I want to dedicate this to her, and to all the people like her, who have to suffer pain at the end of their lives when there is this magical and amazing plant that can help them in the end”, said.
the Newshub team had two major victories, with The HuiMihingarangi Forbes collected the award for Best News and Current Affairs Presenter, while Gower won Best Entertainment Presenter.
READ MORE:
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* NZ TV Awards: The Luminaries leads the pack with 14 nominations, Stuff Circuit nominated
* Election 2020: Who won the leaders debates, TVNZ or Newshub?
Gower missed the awards due to being in managed isolation when he returned from reporting on the US elections.
Patrick Gower: on marijuana director Justin Hawkes also won the Best Documentary Director award for the show.
Hawkes said that making documentaries with Gower (they’ve also made a series on Covid-19 since) had been an incredible experience.
“He really did everything for that show, he trusted me 87 percent for that show. He’s just my best friend, working with him was very good, ”he said.
THINGS
Journalist Hui Mihingarangi Forbes advocates for greater representation of Maori in the media world.
By accepting her award for Best News Anchor, Mihingarangi Forbes (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Paoa) challenged the state and its broadcasters, RNZ and TVNZ, to put Maori programming on prime time.
His speech drew a strong response of support from the crowd. The haka He died welcomed him to the stage. She dedicated her award to the Maori wāhine, saying that she wanted to show that “it is okay for a Maori woman to rise above her station for Te Tiriti and for a place in broadcasting for all of us.”
Forbes presents The Hui on Three, and has worked for RNZ. Backstage, he told her Things Public broadcasters had no excuse not to broadcast more Maori stories.
Ricky Wilson / Stuff
Mihingarangi Forbes at the 2020 NZTV Awards.
“Look, we have a long way to go in broadcasting. We have state broadcasters that don’t share platforms with us, that’s a fight we’re willing to make, and I will always be like that.
“When you watch TVNZ and RNZ platforms in primetime, we are not there. We have been in gang land on Sunday mornings since I started in 1984, like Te Karere,” he said.
But Forbes said there were glimmers of hope. Other Maori broadcasters ran for awards, like Pio Terei. Miriama McDowell and Jayden Daniels won best actor awards for their roles in Head up high.
Ricky Wilson / Stuff
Gigi Barclay and Jayden Daniels at the 2020 NZTV Awards red carpet.
“Mai rā nō, we’ve been here from the beginning. Henare Te Ua, all those RNZ guys when it was called NZ Broadcasting. The Maori have always been broadcasting, we’re not leaving.”
The luminaires, which was filmed in New Zealand as a co-production between TVNZ and the BBC, has received awards in the technical, acting and screenwriting categories.
Eleanor Catton, the Man Booker Award-winning author and screenwriter behind the series, won the Best Drama Screenplay award. Himesh Patel, an English actor known for his role in EastEnders, won the Best Actor award for playing Emery Staines in The luminaires.
THINGS
New Zealand television industry stars and personalities reflect on the “strange year” and their excitement about being able to celebrate as a group again at the New Zealand Television Awards.
It also dominated the craft categories, including Best Director of Photography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup Design, and Best Post-Production Design.
The soap opera was written by Catton and the show’s director, Claire McCarthy, an Australian filmmaker who also won Screen Auckland’s Best Drama Director award. It was shot in Auckland and on the west coast of the South Island.
The New Zealand Television Awards will be held on Auckland’s waterfront, with Personality of the Year and Best Show Awards to be announced later tonight.
