Santiago Korovsky’s comedy series Division Palermo (‘Community Squad’), about an urban guard division in Buenos Aires, won the International Emmy Award (IEmmy) for best comedy in a ceremony held on Monday at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York.

“This feels incredible,” said Korovsky after receiving the prize together with actor and director Nicolás Goldar Parodi.

“Just to be here was already great, and we were going to say that being a nominee was all that mattered. But now that we won, it’s even better!” he added. 

Showrunner Korovsky plays Felipe Rozenfeld, a young man who accidentally ends up in an urban squad sponsored by the City Police. 

In the show, a heartfelt and comedic twist on the notion of affirmative action, Rozenfeld joins a team that was hand-picked to cover different minority quotas and improve the image of the force. The squad includes their one-armed leader Miguel (Daniel Hendler), Rozenfeld’s love interest, Sofía (a woman in a wheelchair played by Pilar Gamboa), a Bolivian immigrant and wannabe stand-up comedian, and a trans woman played by LGBT activist and dancer Valeria Licciardi.

Produced by K&S for Netflix, the eight-episode series was released on the platform in February 2023 and became a big hit in Argentina. A second season of Community Squad is already in post-production and scheduled for release in 2025. The show is still available on Netflix with a dubbed version in English. 

The International Emmys award the best television shows originally produced and broadcast outside the United States during 2023. Two Special Awards and 14 Emmy statues were awarded to shows from 10 countries, including Argentina, Mexico, France, Spain, Poland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

“In these turbulent times, television is definitely an art form that brings people from around the world together — no matter their culture or language,” said International Academy President & CEO Bruce L. Paisner at the ceremony.