The 40th anniversary edition of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival will present the best radio works and podcasts
From 13 to 17 October 2024, Czech Radio will hold the 40th edition of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival in Olomouc. During the festival, works will be presented in four competition categories - Documentary, News Report, Drama and Podcast. The Director General of Czech Radio, René Zavoral, will induct an important personality into the Hall of Fame and actor Vladimír Javorský will be awarded the Radio Thalia Award for the best performance in a radio play.
There will also be a Student Award for each competition category, decided by an independent student jury, and a newly added Listener Award in the Podcast category. Actor Igor Bareš will once again appear as the festival's Honorary President.
"Czech Radio returns to Olomouc with the 40th anniversary edition of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival. I am delighted that we can celebrate such a wonderful anniversary together with festival visitors by listening to exceptional works across various genres of radio production. In addition, this year we will have five days packed with a rich supporting programme offering inspiration, entertainment and information on current trends in audio production. I would personally like to invite you to the opening ceremony of the festival, where Jiří Pavlica and Hradišťan will perform, or to a look back at the work of Hana Maciuchová," said René Zavoral, Director General of Czech Radio.
The five-day Prix Bohemia Radio Festival will gradually introduce all competition categories, from which the expert and student jury will select their winners. On Monday, the final entries in the Documentary category will be presented, on Tuesday the jury will focus on the International News Report section, Wednesday will be dedicated to radio plays in the Drama category, and Thursday, the last day of the festival, will conclude with the Podcast section. For the first time, the Listener's Choice Award will also be presented in this category.
This year's jubilee edition of the festival will be one day longer than in previous years, which will be reflected especially in the richer accompanying programme. In addition to public listening to the best in radio production, visitors to the festival can look forward to discussions, interviews with famous faces, workshops, theatre performances, concerts and news and trends in radio production.
The festival will kick off on Sunday with a performance by Czech Radio stations in the Šantovka Gallery shopping centre, hosted by actor and presenter Dalibor Gondík. Mirai Navrátil will also appear as a musical guest during the afternoon event in Šantovka. There will also be an opportunity to come and listen to a special broadcast of Host Lucie Výborné (Lucie Výborná's Guest) at the Metropol cinema. The first day of the festival will end with a concert in honour of the 80th anniversary of Pavel Novák's birthday with the participation of the Gustav Brom Radio Big Band.
Monday's programme will offer a workshop where visitors will learn how to conduct an interview. In the afternoon, a public recording of the podcast Na Východ! (To the East!) will take place, followed by a discussion with the creators Josef Pazderka and Ondřej Soukup. Not only sports fans will appreciate the unique football show Desítka Pavla Horvátha (Pavel Horvath's Ten) at the Belmondo Club. The end of the day will belong to the opening ceremony of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival in Dům u parku, where the musical ensemble Hradišťan will perform. During the evening Czech Radio's Director General, René Zavoral, will induct another important radio personality into the Hall of Fame, and the President of the Actors' Association, Ondřej Kepka, will announce the Radio Thalia Award for the best performance in a radio play, which will go to Vladimír Javorský for his role as Theodor Mundstock in Ladislav Fuchs' play Mr Theodor Mundstock. The opening ceremony will be hosted by the moderator Jitka Novotná and the live broadcast will be broadcast live on Czech Radio Dvojka and Czech Radio Olomouc.
On the third day of the festival, reporters from the Ověřovna! (Verifier!) project, which belongs to the iROZHLAS.cz news server, have prepared a debate on how best to verify information. There will also be a discussion with the creators of the programme Kriminálka (Crime Scene) in the Metropol cinema. Museum of Art in Olomouc will allow visitors to remember the former president of the festival, Hana Maciuchová, and her excellent radio acting. In the retrospective and subsequent discussion, her acting colleagues Andrea Elsnerová and Igor Bareš will reminisce about her. Those interested in culture will find something to enjoy at the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc, where the Drama Club will perform the award-winning show Ošklivec (The Ugly Man). Before the performance, the theatre will open the exhibition The Invisible Actor of the Century, which will run until the end of November.
On Wednesday, there will be a workshop called Vyprávěj zvukem! (Tell it with Sound!), where visitors will be able to try out the process of finding characters and how to tell their own story. Not far from Olomouc, at the city's cultural centre in Šternberk, the entertaining road show by Aleš Cibulka, Rozhlas jede za vámi (Czech Radio Goes to You), will make a stop. The evening show will be attended by well-known faces such as Igor Bareš and Dalibor Gondík, as well as the Director General of the Czech Radio, René Zavoral. Music lovers can go to the concert of the Pilsen band Radosta in the old building of the Czech Radio Olomouc, where they will have the opportunity to listen to live music falling into the genre of movie rock.
The last day of the festival will offer an entertaining radio programme Humoriáda na cestách (Humoriada on the Road) with Naďa Konvalinková, Ursula Kluková and Josef Fousek. The musical accompaniment will be provided by Petr Kolář and Jana Chládková. The festival will close on Thursday with the Awards Ceremony at which the Czech Radio Brass Quartet will perform.
The Czech Radio Foundation has also prepared an accompanying programme as part of the Prix Bohemia Radio Festival. Throughout the festival, the popular POTMĚ café (Café in the Dark) will be available on Horní náměstí in Olomouc, where visitors will be able to enjoy coffee or other delicacies prepared by people with visual impairments in complete darkness.
A detailed programme of this year's Prix Bohemia Radio and further information about the festival is available on the Prix Bohemia Radio website.
The festival can be attended free of charge after prior accreditation using the form available on the festival website.