'Wing,' 'Iris' win Humanitas Prizes

LOS ANGELES, June 25 (UPI) -- A movie about an enduring love that survives debilitating disease, and a TV drama in which the president shakes his fist at God, took two of the top honors Tuesday as the Humanitas Prize handed out its 28th annual awards in Los Angeles.

Other top awards went to a pair of TV movies -- one about a small town coping with a shameful tragedy, the other about a young girl's optimism in the face of the atrocities of World War II.

Richard Eyre and Charles Wood won this year in the feature film category for their screenplay for "Iris," a Miramax film based on the lives of writers Iris Murdoch and John Bayley, from their days as university students to her death following a bout with Alzheimer's.

Emmy-winner Aaron Sorkin won in the 60 minute category for his teleplay for the "Two Cathedrals" episode of the NBC White House drama "The West Wing," in which President Bartlet has it out with God in a fit of grief over the death of his trusted secretary, Dolores Landingham.

Sorkin recalled filming the episode at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where a group of priests gathered to watch the production. He mentioned to one priest that the character, played by Martin Sheen, was about to "admonish" God.

"And the man said, 'That's gonna be great,'" said Sorkin, getting a laugh from an audience of about 250 writers, directors producers and studio executives.

Moisés Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project won in the 90 minute or longer/cable category won for the HBO movie "The Laramie Project," about the struggle of the people of Laramie, Wyo. to cope with the brutal -- and highly publicized -- murder of Matthew Shepard.

Kirk Ellis won in the 90 minute or longer/network category for his teleplay for the ABC movie "Anne Frank." In his acceptance speech, Ellis said the prize would have its intended effect on him -- encouraging him to keep writing projects that go beyond plain entertainment to address important issues facing humanity.

"I know that in everything I should do from now on," said Ellis, "I should not only try my best to write the best I can but to make the kind of difference that we are allowed to do as writers."

The Humanitas Prize has handed out more than 200 awards and distributed more than $2 million in prize money to movie and TV writers since 1974, "to encourage, stimulate and sustain writers in their humanizing task and to give them the recognition they deserve."

The top four prizes this year carried cash awards of $25,000 each.

Matt Tarses won in the 30 minute category for the "My Old Lady" episode of NBC's hospital comedy "Scrubs" -- a lesson in living and dying with dignity about an elderly patient who has kidney failure but refuses dialysis.

Anna Sandor won in the children's live-action category for the Showtime movie "My Louisiana Sky," about the child of developmentally challenged couple who learns a lesson about self-acceptance and family.

The prize for children's animation went to writer Dev Ross for the Cartoon Network production "Balto II: Wolf Quest," a story of self-discovery and family heritage.

The Sundance feature film prize went to George LaVoo and Josefina Lopez for their screenplay for "Real Women Have Curves," about a young Latina from East L.A. who learns to appreciate her hard-working colleagues at a garment factory and gains determination to make something of her life.

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers received the first-ever Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser Award, added by sponsors this year to honor the memory of the priest who founded the Humanitas Prize. Kieser died in 2000.

In his acceptance speech, the Peabody- and Emmy-winning host of "Bill Moyers Now" on PBS told the audience that the Humanitas Prize typifies the highest calling of the media.

"People give us something they will never get back," he said, "an hour or two of their time. We owe them something of value."

Sponsors also announced the establishment of a new prize to honor the memory of David Angell and his wife Lynn, who died on Flight 11 in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Angell, a writer and producer on the TV comedies "Cheers" and "Wings," was best known as a co-creator of "Frasier," which won the Emmy for best comedy in its first five seasons on NBC.

"David Angell was the epitome of everything we value at the Humanitas Prize," said Rev. Frank Desiderio, president of the organization. "As a writer, he found the humor in all his characters, without sacrificing their humanity."

The David and Lynn Angell Humanitas Fellowship in Comedy Writing is designed to encourage young writers "realize that it is possible to write shows which are rich in values and commercially viable at the same time."