Tyler Perry and Guillermo del Toro among Humanitas winners

Humanitas announces 2023 award winners, including Tyler Perry and Guillermo del Toro

A collage of movie stills from the list of winners.

By Matt PearceStaff Writer

Aug. 15, 2023 7 AM PT

The Humanitas Prizes is forgoing its usual awards ceremony to avoid crossing picket lines and instead announcing winners in the press. Read The Times’ feature story on Humanitas here.

Children’s teleplay (live-action or animation)

WINNER: Hernán Barangan, “Life by Ella” (“Prison or Palace”)
“A cancer patient who is the only teen in a ward full of children launches a campaign to get medical staff to put her with patients her own age.”

NOMINEES: Gigi D.G., “Pinecone & Pony” (“A Life of Adventure”); Kwame Alexander, Damani Johnson, “The Crossover” (“X’s & 0’s”); Lisa Muse Bryant, “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” (“Hair Today Gone Tomorrow”)

Comedy feature film

WINNER: Cooper Raiff, “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
“A young man who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host strikes up a friendship with a mother and her autistic daughter.”

NOMINEES: Peter Farrelly, Brian Currie, Pete Jones, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever”; Mark Rizzo, David Marqués, Javier Fesser, “Champions”; Tom Huang, “Dealing With Dad”

Drama feature film

WINNER: Tyler Perry, “A Jazzman’s Blues”
“A tale of forbidden love and family drama unravels 40 years of secrets and lies against a soundtrack of juke-joint blues in the Deep South.”

NOMINEES: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, “She Said”; Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, Chinonye Chukwu, “Till”

Family feature film

WINNER: Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“A father’s wish magically brings a wooden boy to life in Italy, giving him a chance to care for the child.”

NOMINEES: Paul Fisher, Tommy Swerdlow, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”; David Hudgins, “Gigi & Nate”

Comedy teleplay

WINNER: Amy Sherman-Palladino, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (“Four Minutes”)
“Series finale concluding the story of a young mother of two who discovers she has a talent for stand-up comedy.”

NOMINEES: Francesca Sloane, Karen Joseph Adcock, “Atlanta” (“The Goof Who Sat by the Door”); Sterlin Harjo, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, “Reservation Dogs” (“Mabel”); Garrett Werner, “Abbott Elementary” (“Read-a-Thon”)

Drama teleplay

WINNER: Craig Mazin, “The Last of Us” (“Long, Long Time”)
“A survivalist forges an unlikely connection when a stranger approaches his compound.”

NOMINEES: Peter Gould, “Better Call Saul” (“Saul Gone”); DJ Nash, James Roday Rodriguez, “A Million Little Things” (“one big thing”); Ben Vanstone, “All Creatures Great and Small” (“Surviving Siegfried”)

Limited series/TV movie/special

WINNER: Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, “A Small Light” (“Pilot”)
“The remarkable story of Miep Gies, a Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis for more than two years during World War II.”

NOMINEES: Brian Savelson, “Little America” (“Paper Piano”); Lee Eisenberg, Idil Ibrahim, “Little America” (“Camel on a Stick”); Michael Nankin, Barbara Nance, “An Amish Sin”