Israeli actors Shira Haas and Amit Rahav, who star in the critically acclaimed Netflix miniseries Unorthodox, nabbed some of Hollywood's most coveted prizes on Thursday night, winning the Best Female Performance in a Scripted Series and Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series categories of the prestigious Independent Spirit Awards.
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Israeli director Shaul Schwarz won the award for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series for the Netflix documentary series Immigration Nation, which focuses on the migrant crisis in the US.
Unorthodox, which tells the story of Esty (Haas), a young Haredi woman from Brooklyn who flees to Berlin to escape an unhappy arranged marriage and embraces a secular lifestyle there, has proven a runaway hit for the streaming giant. The four-episode series was inspired by the 2012 memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, by Deborah Feldman.
The series was nominated for top honors in the US and Europe, earning Haas, 25, nominations for multiple international awards, including the Primetime Emmy Awards, Critics' Choice Television Awards, and the Golden Globe Awards. The Independent Spirit Awards mark her first win.
like most other award season ceremonies, the Spirit Awards were handed out in an online ceremony. Taking to social media, Haas wrote, "Thank you @filmindependent for honoring me with the best female performance in a scripted series award. Best news I've ever received at 6 a.m.!
"It's been over a year since Unorthodox was released, and with every day that passes, I understand more deeply how lucky I am to be part of this project. Thank you to my Unorthodox family and everyone for all this love and recognition."
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In an Instagram post following his win, Rahav, 25, wrote, "Soooooo honored to receive the @filmindependent spirit award for best male performance in a new scripted series! Thank you thank you thank you! never going to sleep again."
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Schwarz's Immigration Nation, which he co-directed and co-produced, sparked controversy when it first aired over the bad light in which it showed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with whom the filmmakers were embedded.
Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards honor movies and filmmakers typically snubbed by the Academy Awards. It is produced by Film Independent, a not-for-profit arts organization that used to produce the LA Film Festival. Film Independent members vote to determine the winners of the Spirit Awards.
This was the first year that the Spirit Awards includes television, much like the Golden Globes. The latter is handed out by the 87 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in recognition of excellence in film, both American and international, and American television.
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