A Herald series about youth suicide, Jessica's Tree, has won a gold award at the International New York Film Festival.
The five-part online video series, made by multiple suicide survivor Jazz Thornton for Augusto Productions and screened on nzherald.co.nz in March last year, today received a gold award for best TV or web series.
Thornton said she woke up to the news that the NZ On Air-funded series had won fresh international honours, after previous festival awards in Barcelona, Copenhagen and Toronto.
"For those of you who are new to following me, Jessica's Tree is the series I directed about the suicide of a young girl I knew," she posted on Instagram.
"It came out last year and we saw it impact hundreds of thousands around the world.
"Years ago, suicide was something never mentioned in the media. So to see people not only talking about it, but highlighting it and this show as something that was crafted to help people is overwhelming.
"We would have been in New York right now but with covid, we are celebrating from our home here in NZ."
Jessica's Tree also won best web series at the New Zealand TV Awards in November.
Since it first screened, Thornton has addressed the United Nations General Assembly and been to Buckingham Palace to talk mental health strategy with Heads Together, the mental health campaign co-ordinated by Princes William and Harry.
Jazz Thornton, director of the web series Jessica's Tree about teenage suicide. Photo / supplied
Her book Stop Surviving Start Fighting was published in March and a feature film documentary about the making of Jessica's Tree by director Leanne Pooley will screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival next weekend. "The whole series is about helping people understand what it is to be suicidal and then what you can do to help," said Thornton when Jessica's Tree was released in March.
"I don't want people to watch this and 20 minutes later move on with their lives. I don't think you can watch this and not change the way you think."
