The BBC's heart-wrenching drama Care won the prestigious Prix Italia prize for best TV drama at the annual television and radio awards ceremony held this year in Bologna and Reggio Emilia (Sept 14-22).

The 104 min picture tells the story of a 14-year-old boy who is sent to a children's home when he's caught stealing a packet of cigarettes. He subsequently endures physical and sexual abuse from both wardens and visitors, including a local magistrate. The drama, directed by Antonia Bird, was broadcast in the UK in October 2000.

Meanwhile, Finland's YLE won a prize for best cultural TV documentary for John Webster's Rooms Of Shadow And Light, which follows the life of women in two brothels in the slums of Bombay.

The best factual documentary prize went to Sweden's SVT for Heritage For Sale, director Johan Branstad's hidden camera look at how stolen objects from Europe, South America and Asia end up in Swedish antique shops and museums.

Best mini series went to Danish broadcaster DR for Jacob Gronlykke's political thriller The Serbian Dane, while the TV Performing Arts prize went to Emmy-winner La Traviata A Paris, a RAI production directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and filmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.

The Prix Italia also featured a special NATPE Day, inaugurating a collaboration between the Italian festival and the US TV market. Guests at the festival, which changes venue in Italy every year, included CBS star Walter Cronkite.

Frank Dieter Freiling, head of external relations at ZDF, has been appointed president of next year's festival - the 54th - replacing ITN's James Graham at the end of his two-year term.