Los Angeles (AFP)
HBO's "Watchmen" series largely dominated the 2020 Emmy Awards selection unveiled entirely virtually on Tuesday due to the pandemic, with 26 nominations in total.
The dark and tortured superheroes of "Watchmen" are followed by the comedy "The Fabulous Mrs. Maisel" (20 nominations), the thriller "Ozark" (18) on par with the black comedy "Succession" (18). With 15 selections, "The Mandalorian", devoted to the Star Wars universe, completes the Top 5.
"Watchmen + is already a great series in and of itself, but it has taken on even greater significance in recent weeks," said Joyce Eng, award specialist for the Gold Derby website, before the publication of the Emmy Awards selection. , equivalent of the Oscars of television in the United States.
Centered around the massacre of several hundred black inhabitants of the city of Tulsa (Oklahoma) in 1921 by white rioters, "Watchmen" indeed plunges into the heart of racist violence and police brutality, themes which are cruelly topical in United States since the end of May.
"2020 is not only a global health crisis. This year, we are also witnessing one of the greatest struggles for social justice in history," said the president of the Emmy Academy. Awards, Frank Scherma, alludes to the protests continuing across the country.
"It is the power and responsibility of television, not only to offer a multitude of services or a little bit of a dream, but also to amplify the voices that need to be heard and to tell the stories that need to be told," he said. he continued before launching the brief ceremony.
For this 72nd edition, the giant Netflix is clearly ahead of its rival HBO with 160 nominations against 107, a new record.
The Emmy Awards will be presented on September 20, during a ceremony that is also likely to be entirely virtual, Los Angeles and its region being one of the main centers of Covid-19 on American soil.
© 2020 AFP