2020 Winner

Giri/Haji (Duty/Shame)

BBC Two, Netflix, Sister

JAPAN, UK

Scripted - Drama Series: Non-English Language

Giri/Haji is a grown-up, genre-bending series, half of which is English, the other in Japanese. There are animated sequences, flashbacks, a contemporary dance number, black humour and stylised operatic violence. Creator and writer Joe Barton really wanted to expand the creative boundaries of this world, and as producers, we said, “Let’s just be bold and try to find a new language of film-making” This is such an unusual story, we wanted to tell it in the most distinctive way we could. You can do that when you’ve got a writer like Joe, whose characters and dialogue are so founded in truth, humour, wit and reality. He writes incredible characters, so you can add other elements that take you to a slightly heightened place. We gave ourselves permission to explore any idea that we had. The response from a vocal and passionate fan base online and from broadsheet critics has vindicated the risks we’ve taken.