HBO Max Poland’s Series ‘Proud’ Celebrates a Gay Man’s Heartwarming Journey as He Cares for His Niece, Winning Grand Prize and Best Actor at Series Mania Awards
HBO Max has achieved a significant milestone with a double victory at the Series Mania Awards for the Polish series Proud. The show, which tells the poignant story of a gay man caring for his infant niece following a family tragedy, won both the Grand Prize in the international competition and the Best Actor award for lead Ignacy Liss.
The jury, led by Icelandic showrunner and actor Benedikt Erlingsson, praised Karol Klementewicz’s series as “a deeply moving portrait of a young man at his breaking point, forced to take control of his life.”
Proud offers a vibrant narrative during challenging times. A recent report from the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe indicated that writers are increasingly self-censoring due to fears of reprisal from far-right governments, raising concerns about whether they will choose to shelve immigrant or LGBTQ stories. This topic resonated significantly during discussions at Series Mania.
The success of Proud reflects a fruitful week for HBO, which also launched HBO Max in the UK and released a highly anticipated trailer for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. HBO executives were prominent at Series Mania in Lille, further showcasing the network’s commitment to diverse storytelling.
In addition to Proud, other notable winners at the Series Mania Awards included Dennis Kelly’s BBC series Waiting for the Out, which received the Best Screenplay award, and Amanda Jansson, who won Best Actress for her role in the Nordic co-production My Brother. The BBC’s Small Prophets, directed by Mackenzie Crook, was honored as Best Series in the International Panorama section, where actress Lauren Patel also received recognition.
The Audience Award was awarded to Dustfall, an Australian thriller featuring Anna Torv from The Newsreader, while TF1’s All Shapes of Us claimed the title of Best French Series.
The awards ceremony marks the conclusion of another successful Series Mania, which has been running since March 20.
