‘Secrets,’ ‘Evers,’ ‘Old Man’ Top the Humanitas Prizes

Writers Mike Leigh, Walter Bernstein and Horton Foote each won $25,000 Wednesday in the 23rd annual Humanitas Prizes for television programs and motion pictures “that most fully communicate human values to their audiences.”

They and four other writers shared a total of $120,000 that was handed out by the Pacific Palisades-based Human Family Educational and Cultural Institute in an effort to encourage screenplays that affirm human dignity and explore the meaning of life.

Leigh won in the feature film category for his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for “Secrets & Lies,” which the judges praised “for its revelation of the common humanity that we share and for its probing look into the power of love to heal.”

Bernstein won in the PBS/cable category for “Miss Evers’ Boys,” an HBO movie about the U.S. government’s long-running medical experiment that allowed African American men to suffer and die of syphilis even after a cure was discovered. The judges cited its “penetrating look at how rationalizing evil leads inevitably to the erosion of conscience.”

Foote won in the network TV movie category for his adaptation of William Faulkner’s “Old Man,” a CBS drama about a prisoner who helps a pregnant woman during a flood. The judges praised its “compassionate portrayal of human integrity.”

Other winners announced in a luncheon at the Universal Sheraton:

60-minute network program ($15,000): David Mills, for an episode of ABC’s “NYPD Blue” called “Taillight’s Last Gleaming.” It was cited for “its indictment of racial stereotyping and its portrayal of the wrenching process of human grieving.”

30-minute network program ($10,000): Bob Tischler, for an episode of NBC’s “Something So Right” called “Something About an Older Guy,” which the judges said they selected “for its witty look at the challenges of honest and caring communication in a contemporary family.”

Children’s live-action television ($10,000): Bruce Harmon, for HBO’s “Someone Had to Be Benny,” about a boy with a terminal liver ailment.

Children’s animated television ($10,000): Alex Taub, for an episode of “Life With Louie” called “The Thank You Note,” about a boy’s quest to understand his grandmother’s death. Taub won last year for another episode of the Fox series.

In the keynote address, John Wells, executive producer of “ER” and a member of the Humanitas board, noted the influence that Hollywood entertainment has the world over and called on writers to establish “higher standards for ourselves and for our work.”