The Monte-Carlo Television Festival has unveiled the official selection for the 2026 Golden Nymph Awards, with Emilia Clarke leading the fiction competition and a landmark new digital category making its competitive debut as the festival marks its 65th anniversary.
The awards will be presented at the Closing Ceremony on Tuesday 16th June, hosted by Louise Ekland and Ricky Whittle. Juries are chaired by actress Lesley Manville for Fiction, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joshua Seftel for Feature Reports and News, and media executive Susanne Daniels for the new Digital category.
Fiction
Emilia Clarke stars alongside Haley Lu Richardson in Ponies, an American espionage thriller produced by Universal Television that leads this year’s fiction competition. The United Kingdom contributes two strong entries — The Other Bennet Sister, a literary adaptation featuring Ella Bruccoleri and Richard E. Grant, and Gone, a psychological drama led by Rosie Day.
Italy is among the strongest territories in competition, with Gomorrah – The Origins, the long-awaited prequel to the cult international crime franchise, alongside Rosso Volante, produced with Rai Fiction. The selection is further enriched by Fadia, set between Palestine and Israel, Olivia from Germany, Jones from Portugal, and the Danish military drama The Uniform.
Feature reports and news
The documentary and investigative journalism category spans Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Japan’s NHK brings Under Occupation: The Reality of Russification, while South Africa contributes Our Earth, My Blood. The BBC’s Into the Void: Putin’s Foreign Fighters, France’s Iran, Israel and the Bomb and Switzerland’s The Shattered Lives of Crans-Montana complete a selection that addresses war, migration, geopolitics and social resilience.
A historic first: the digital competition
For the first time, the festival introduces a fully competitive Digital category with its own jury and international selection. France leads the lineup with entries including 8h de maquillage pour devenir un lézard! and Morbid Curiosity, produced by Webedia and Elephant Adventures. The UK’s Controlled: Can I Trust My Partner?, Deutsche Welle’s investigation into the exploitation of Indian students in Germany, and South Korea’s Next-Door Families complete a category that signals the festival’s formal embrace of digital storytelling as a discipline in its own right.
“This 2026 Official Selection powerfully reflects the vitality, boldness and diversity of international audiovisual creation,” said Festival Executive Director Cécile Menoni. “For this anniversary edition, the Festival celebrates more than ever stories that question our times, bring cultures together, and push the boundaries of storytelling across both television and digital platforms.”