2021 Winner

I May Destroy You

BBC, Various Artists Ltd, FALKNA Ltd

UK

- Limited Series

Michaela Coel took a story of victimhood and wove it into a truly innovative tale, both in it’s structure and it’s themes. It is an outstanding piece of writing. The story is opaque and compelling: exploring what it means to be a victim, its loneliness, denial, powerlessness, rage and despair. But her scripts also explored hope, friendship, families and forgiveness, the power of creativity, and the human spirit. The story she wrote ended up being not just about rape, or consent, but about going forward and not looking back. The characters Michaela created are complicated and conflicted. They are typical young men and women of metropolitan London, who party, take drugs, worry about work, worry about each other. We see their mistakes and misunderstandings, their strengths, and weaknesses. They are fictional characters who are believable, well-rounded people, capable of being funny, kind and loving, but they equally capable of being selfish and self-absorbed.