What Makes a Family among Humanitas Prize finalists

What Makes a Family, the Lifetime network movie written by Robert L. Friedman about a lesbian’s attempts to regain custody of her child after the death of her partner, is a finalist for a 2001 Humanitas Prize in the category of cable shows that run 90 minutes or more. The Humanitas Prizes are awarded annually to television and motion picture writers whose work explores the complexities of the human experience in a positive fashion. Other nominees this year are gay director Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot, written by Lee Hall, the story of a boy in an industrial town in northern England who wants to be a ballet dancer; and Wit, with screenplay by Emma Thompson and Mike Nichols, the HBO movie about a professor of literature reassessing her life while dying of ovarian cancer, based upon the award-winning play by lesbian playwright Margaret Edson. The winners of the awards will be announced on June 28 at a ceremony at the Hilton Universal Hotel in Universal City, Calif. For further information on the awards and a complete list of nominees, log on to www.humanitasprize.org.