'Unorthodox' wins prestigious Peabody Award

(Israel Hayom via JNS) - The highly acclaimed miniseries "Unorthodox," starring Israeli actress Shira Haas, won the prestigious Peabody Award on Tuesday in recognition of the most "compelling and empowering stories released across broadcast and streaming media in 2020."

"Unorthodox" is an American-German production that first aired on Netflix in March 2020. The story revolves around a young Jewish woman, Esty Shapiro (Haas), living in an ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn, who flees her arranged marriage, escaping to Berlin, only to be pursued by her husband and his thuggish cousin on order by their rabbi.

The miniseries was also nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series (Haas) and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series (Anna Winger), winning for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series (Maria Schrader).

Haas was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role as Esty.

The Peabody Board of Jurors said in their description of the show: "A riveting thriller, the series takes a hard look at how a religious community enforces strict gender roles to maintain its identity no matter the human cost. With the raw and authentic Shira Haas as Esty, 'Unorthodox' merges a stark portrayal of religious oppression with a coming-of-age story that resonates with gritty, desperate innocence."

Other 2020 Peabody winners unveiled on Monday included "76 Days" (documentary), which features patients and medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic during its early days in Wuhan, China; "Ted Lasso" (entertainment); Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" (entertainment); and Amazon's Oscar-nominated "Time" (documentary).

Additional winners will be unveiled over the course of this week, with the presentations spanning from June 21-24 on social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) and the Peabody Awards' website.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.