The Norwegian royal TV series Atlantic Crossing has won an international Emmy award.
The series, created by Norway’s TV station NRK, Atlantic Crossing, won an international Emmy award in the category for best TV film or miniseries. The winners were announced at a ceremony in New York on Monday. Series creator Alexander Eik dedicated the award to Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, born a Princess of Sweden.
Sofia Helin and Tobias Santelmann play Crown Princess Märtha and Crown Prince Olav in the series set in Norway during the Second World War. The series won against the competition British Des, South Korean It’s Okay to Not Be Okay and Brazilian Todas As Mulheres do Mundo (All the Women in the World). About 20 people who have worked on the series were present in New York.
The series has had good ratings in Europe and in the US, under the auspices of PBS and Amazon Prime. As of 16 October 2020, around 30 countries had secured the rights to show the series.
In Norway, Atlantic Crossing has also been the centre of discussions about TV series and films that are based on real people and historical facts but which mix this with dramaturgical grips and fictional elements. The series recently won the jury’s special award at the Golden Bird Prize ceremony in the South Korean capital of Seoul.
The now late Erling Lorentzen, widower of Princess Ragnhild of Norway and brother-in-law of King Harald, heavily criticised the TV series Atlantic Crossing. The show has also received criticism from well-known Norwegian historians who accuse it of falsifying history. The series has also been discussed and criticised by the Norwegian Broadcasting Council.
Atlantic Crossing is a Norwegian drama eight-episode series, which premiered on NRK in October 2020. It is inspired by the story of Crown Princess Märtha and her efforts for Norway during World War II. Through her friendship with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she influenced him at a time when Norway and the Allies needed help from the then neutral United States in the fight against Adolf Hitler.
