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National Catholic Reporter, July 17, 1998 by John L. Allen, Jr.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the feature film prize at the 1998 Humanitas awards ceremony held July 9 in Los Angeles. The Humanitas Prize is the nation's only movie and TV award recognizing works that "communicate those values which most enrich the human person."

Damon and Affleck captured the $25,000 award for writing "Good Will Hunting." Other finalists in the feature film category included "Contact" and "The Education of Little Tree."

Television episodes of "Nothing Sacred" and "Murphy Brown," the TNT movie "George Wallace" and the Disney special "Ruby Bridges" also claimed honors.

Panels of entertainment industry professionals and "values educators," such as teachers and ministers, reviewed the works in each category and determined the awards. Unlike other major entertainment industry awards, the Humanitas Prize is always given to the writer, not the director or star.

Damon and Affleck's script showed "the power of friendship, honesty and love to heal the wounds of the past and help us realize our potential and become the persons we were meant to be," according to the Humanitas judges.

The Wallace film was acknowledged for a "probing look at the spiritual vacuum that underlies racial bigotry." The other finalists in the made-for-TV movie category on PBS or cable were "Clover," produced for the USA net and "Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor," broadcast on the Family Channel.

"Nothing Sacred" pilot episode, "Proofs for the Existence of God," won for its "provocative depiction of the contemporary wrestling match with God." In the hour drama category on TV, the other finalists were episodes of "ER" and "Homicide: Life on the Street."

"Ruby Bridges," the true story of the 6-year-old girl who integrated the New Orleans school system, drew praise for dramatizing the girl's "courage in the face of persistent scorn and rejection." Other finalists in this category, made-for-TV movies for a network or syndication, included an extended episode of "NYPD Blue"and "The Staircase" on CBS.

"Murphy Brown" won the 30-minute prize for an episode dealing with the lead character's battle with breast cancer. Other finalists were episodes of" Frazier" on NBC and "Foto-Novelas" on PBS.

The children's live action award went to "Smudge" on TNT, while the children's animation prize was captured by "Blinded by Love," an episode of "Life with Louie" on the Fox network.

The Humanitas award comes with cash, in part intended to stimulate more work that helps "liberate, enrich and unify human society."

The Humanitas Prize was created in 1974 by Paulist Fr. Ellwood Kieser through a grant from the Lilly Foundation. Kieser, producer of movies such as "Romero" and "Entertaining Angels" serves as president of the Humanitas Foundation. The prizes are today entirely funded by the entertainment industry.

"It's easy to talk about what's wrong with American television," Kieser said. "It is much more difficult to talk about what is right. Yet some of American television is first rate.... In these shows, the human situation is being illumined, contemporary moral dilemmas are being explored, the discerning viewer is being challenged and motivated to reach out in respect and compassion."

Kieser describes the Humanitas Prize ceremony as a "secular liturgy," where the best aspects of the entertainment industry are on display. The Foundation also offers a series of workshops for television writers each year, intended to foster the expression of human values in a highly commercial medium.