The International Emmy Awards are the prizes for the best television programs created and broadcast outside the United States. They are not to be confused with the (Primetime) Emmys, intended for American programs, which were awarded in Los Angeles in September. Restaurant Misunderstandinga program from production house Roses Are Blue, won the ‘non-scripted entertainment’ category of the South African That bridgethe Mexican I fall laughing and the Australian The summit.
“The other programs were more like adventure game programs. I think that our program of the five is the most socially relevant,” says Dieter Coppens in response The Standard. In the VRT 1 program, Dieter Coppens and chef Seppe Nobels run a restaurant together with eight people with young dementia. It is a way to show the outside world what people with early-onset dementia can still do after their diagnosis. Due to their illness, they regularly face misunderstandings and are often forced to stop working. In Flanders today, an estimated 143,000 people live with dementia and approximately 4,500 of them are younger than 65 years old.
Foreign format
Coppens currently lives in Australia. He has just finished the last day of shooting of the new season Down the road sit up when we get him on the phone. The program maker reacts enthusiastically to the Emmy: “Of course that is very nice. We are extremely proud of the entire team. But the prize mainly belongs to the restaurant employees. The participants and their caregivers allowed cameras at one of the most vulnerable moments in their lives. That’s super brave.”
Restaurant Misunderstanding is originally a foreign format. There is also an English version under the name The restaurant that makes mistakes and a Dutch version with presenter Johnny de Mol and chef Ron Blaauw. Yet it is the Flemish variant that won prizes in New York on Monday night. “We made it our own thing,” says Coppens. “It is not a large-scale TV show, but rather a project that is also being turned into a TV program. It is a very human approach.”
Dieter Coppens at work in ‘Restaurant Misverstand’. — © Nattida-Jayne Kanyachalao
The program was already in its third season this spring. On average, around 926,000 people watched the three seasons. Coppens: “I am regularly asked about this by non-profit organizations that work on young dementia. They are very grateful that we are discussing this topic. That is why it is important to make such programs for a broad audience and not limit it to one episode to put the theme on the map.”
As far as he is concerned, that commitment goes further than just that Restaurant Misunderstanding: “With this program we look at what is still possible. People with early-onset dementia are often written off and can no longer find a job, but it is important to keep people on board in society. This does not only apply to people with dementia or young-onset dementia. So let that also be a message that goes even further.”
“Insanely proud”
Seppe Nobels is also “insanely proud”. He was in New York with production crew members to receive the award. “The splendor that the employees brought to the table, the warmth that prevailed among the group and the quality that the TV makers gave to the program, were tasted across borders. It is therefore very nice to win such an incredibly nice international prize with the entire team,” said a press release from the VRT.
The International Emmy Awards are considered the most important international television awards. Restaurant Misunderstanding was the only Belgian program to be nominated this year. “You don’t win an International Emmy Award every day. We can be extremely proud of this recognition in Flanders,” says Frederik Delaplace, managing director of the VRT. In 2017, VRT already won once in the same category with the program Sorry for everything. The Ketnet program won in 2020 Night Ravens in the category ‘Kids: non-scripted entertainment’. In 2021, Ketnet won prizes again, this time for Signs of life in de categorie ‘Factual & entertainment’.
