The American International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded an International Emmy to a Dutch public television production at Monday night’s gala in New York.

In Etgar Keret – Een waargebeurd verhaal (Etgar Keret – A true story), which was entered in the Arts Programme category, director Stephane Kaas explores what makes Israeli author Etgar such a compelling storyteller.

Kaas was given the award by Madam Secretary actor Erich Bergen. ‘It came as such a surprise that I was in a bit of a daze for the rest of the evening,’ Kaas told NU.nl.

Another Dutch nomination, an EO entry for best documentary, lost out to the BBC’s Goodbye Aleppo.  Gert-Jan de Vries, whose daughter Puck is severely disabled, recorded the ups and downs of his family for the last 20 years.

It is not the first time a Dutch television production wins an Emmy. Youth film Alles Mag (Anything goes) was given the prestigious prize in 2015.