PE 2014 – Winners RADIO- Doc, Drama and -Music +AUDIO

Radio Awards

Best European Radio Documentary

Woman Found Dead by Lake Shore / Sweden

Submitting Organisation: Sveriges Radio – SR
Autor: Hugo Lavett
Director: Hugo Lavett
Sound: Jan Waldemark
Producer: Robert Barkman

From an outstanding selection of documentaries, the jury was gripped by a personal tragedy that unfolds like a story written by Franz Kafka. Propelled by a compelling narration that’s alive with delicately evoked images within an elegant and clear sound design, this anatomy of a suspected murder shares stylistic characteristics with a ‘Nordic noir’ thriller, including access to astounding police interrogation scenes. However, at no point does it lose its humanity or concern for the indelible stigma of suspicion.

(1’00” clip)

Special Commendations

Colette’s Podcast / France

Submitting Organisation: ARTE Radio
Autor: Charlotte Bienaimé
Director:Charlotte Bienaimé
Producer: Macelles Walles
Sound: Samuel Hirsch
Commissioning editor: Silvain Gire

Still Glowing Strong / Norway

Submitting organisation: Norsk rikskringkasting – NRK
Author: Sindre Leganger
Director: Sindre Leganger
Sound: Erki Halvorsen
Commissioning editor: Berit Hedemann
Producer: Sindre Leganger

Best European Radio Investigation

The Insider / Sweden

Submitting organisation: Sveriges Radio – SR
Author: Bo Goran Bodin, Daniel Ohman
Director: Bo Goran Bodin, Daniel Ohman
Sound: Bo Goran Bodin, Daniel Ohman
Commissioning editor: Bo Goran Bodin, Daniel Ohman
Producer: Bo Goran Bodin, Daniel Ohman

Classic elements of current affairs investigations include the use of sources and whistleblowers; painstaking gathering of evidence and information; and confrontation with those who have been shown to have a case to answer.

This year’s winner deployed all of them in a finely-constructed journalistic thriller which examined allegations of bribery in a deal involving the telecommunications giant Ericsson and officials in Greece over the supply of a military radar system.

(2’07” clip)

Special Commendations

Elephant Hunt – Guns for Ivory / Germany

Submitting organisation: Westdeutscher Rundfunk – WDR / ARD
Author: Bettina Rühl
Director: Philippe Bruehl
Sound: Dirk Hülsenbusch, Mechthild Austermann
Commissioning editor: Dorothea Runge
Producer: Dorothea Runge

Best European Radio Drama

Everything, Nothing, Harvey Keitel / United Kingdom

Submitting organisation: Falling Tree Productions
Author: Pejk Malinovski
Director: Pejk Malinovski
Sound: Pejk Malinovski
Commissioning editor: Matthew Dodd
Producer: Pejk Malinovski

In the midst of a week full of very good radio drama, the jury fell in love with a small and brilliant jewel of a play.

As we listened, we were forcibly reminded that radio at its very best is an intimate medium and this piece demonstrated so clearly the ability to reach out and hold the listener in the palm of its hand from beginning to end. It contains no high drama and no tragedy but with wit and elegance presents us with a beautifully pitched picture. The jury greatly admired the unity of the dramaturgy and the gentle development of the script. With outstanding editing and wonderful recordings, the writer-director takes us to a meditation class in New York city where he finds himself sitting next to an older man with a red bandana. Against the background of a brilliantly constructed New york vibe, he wryly explores the difficulty of focusing on one’s breath when it transpires that the man with the red bandana is the famous American actor, Harvey Keitel.

(0’53” clip)

Special Commendations

To Moscow!

Submitting organisation: Radio Russia / Radio Kultura
Author: David Zane Mairowitz
Director: David Zane Mairowitz
Sound: Dmitry Nikolaev
Commissioning editor: Marina Bagdasaryan
Producer: Marina Bagdasaryan

 

Best European Radio Fiction Serial or Mini-Series

57, rue de Varenne / France

Submitting organisation: Radio France
Author: François Pérache
Director: Cedric Aussir
Sound: Sophie Bissantz, Stéphane Desmons, Anil Bhosle
Commissioning editor: Emmanuelle Chevrière
Producer: Blandine Masson
Production company: France Culture

The jury were very enthusiastic about the pace of this piece, its bounce and the way it succeeded in controlling the material it presented.

In a debut piece of dramatic writing, carefully poised between satire, comedy and reality, it presented us with a “river of life” view of a contemporary political situation. It was funny but never went over the top, with well written conversations between the characters. The jury thought it was beautifully directed with good acting and that it was refreshing in the way it brought us drama without being overly dramatic. The real time dramaturgy of the piece was also regarded as being a good choice.

The French Prime Minister awakens to the news that his Minister of Health has gone missing during a trip to Africa and, nearer home, there is a scandal brewing about the Minister of Finance’s official residence. In a five-part series about the vagaries of the French political establishment, the author sets out to present a penetrating vision of “the hell that is politics” and he succeeds.

(2’15” clip)

Special Commendations

Your Party / Sweden

Submitting organisation: Sveriges Radio – SR
Author: Pia Gradvall, Magnus Lindman
Director: Magnus Berg
Sound: Eric Nyblaeus, Monica Bergmark
Commissioning editor: Magnus Lindman
Producer: Magnus Berg

Best European Radio Music Programme

Strange Fruit / United Kingdom

Submitting organisation: British Broadcasting Corporation – BBC
Author: Maggie Ayre
Director: Maggie Ayre
Sound: Michael Harrison
Commissioning editor: Tony Phillips
Producer: Maggie Ayre

The song, Strange Fruit. Memorably encapsulates a poetic depiction of the brutal lynchings in the southern United States. The winning programme uses this Billie Holliday song to explore the deep wounds, encountering people with close connections to the events; the stories were calmly recounted, adding intensity to the words, and allowing time for reflection. The song is delicately woven into a tapestry of sad memories. Strange fruit demonstrates the ability of radio to communicate strong emotions and profound insights.

(0’47” clip)

Special Commendations

The Name of Darkness / Finland

Submitting organisation: Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company
Author: Pipsa Lonka
Director: Tiina Luoma
Sound: Tiina Luoma
Composer: Gustav Nyström
Commissioning editor: Tuire Lindström
Producer: Pekka Savolainen