‘Safir’ represents Türkiye at Int’l Emmys

NEW YORK

The 52nd International Emmy Awards took place in New York City. At the ceremony, Türkiye was represented by Haluk Bilginer and the lead actors of the series “Safir,” Özge Yağız and Burak Berkay Akgül.

Bilginer attended the ceremony as a nominee in the "Best Actor" category for his role as Agah Beyoğlu in the series “Şahsiyet” (Persona).

In addition to Yağız and Akgül, producers Fatih Aksoy and Mehmet Yiğit Alp also attended the event.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency on the red carpet in New York, Bilginer said: "It is a great honor for everyone involved to be nominated twice for a project we loved and worked on with passion."

Akgül mentioned they were attending the International Emmy Awards for the first time, stating, "We produced something wonderful. We told a very magical story, a love story, and seeing this resonate with the audience makes us very happy."

Yağız noted that it was her first time in the U.S., adding, "Being among the final four out of 1,500 semifinalists and becoming a finalist is already a tremendous honor for us."

In 2019, Bilginer won the "Best Actor" award at the International Emmy Awards for his role in “Şahsiyet.”

Timothy Spall won Best Performance by an Actor on Nov. 26 to pace the field at the awards. The win for “The Sixth Commandment” follows his BAFTA TV Award for the performance earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Bad Genius star Aokbab, the Thai model-actress who received 2017’s Screen International Rising Star Asia Award from the New York Asian Film Festival, won Best Performance by an Actress for her role in Netflix‘s “Hunger.”

The U.K. led the wins by country, with four accolades across best actor, documentary, sports doc and kids animation. Spain followed with two wins: Short-Form Series and Telenovela. The annual ceremony organized by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences cerebrates the year’s best in TV programming outside the U.S. This year, nominees hailed from 21 countries.

Other notable wins included French Japanese American “Les Gouttes de Dieu” for Drama Series, as well as Argentina’s “División Palermo” for Comedy.

The event, hosted by comedian Vir Das, also honored Emmy-winning writer-producer David E. Kelly with the 2024 International Emmy Founders Award and Gaumont CEO Sidonie Dumas with the 2024 International Emmy Directorate Award.

“In these turbulent times, television is definitely an art form that brings people from around the world together — no matter their culture or language,” International Academy President & CEO Bruce L. Paisner said. “The International Academy is proud to recognize these outstanding programs and performances.”