Czech Radio Announces the Winners of the 40th Anniversary Edition of the Prix Bohemia Radio Competition
The Prix Bohemia Radio International Radio Festival has announced its winners. At Thursday's closing ceremony of the 40th edition of the festival, organised by Czech Radio, the expert juries announced the three best entries in each category. The competition was held in the Documentary, News Report, Drama and Podcast categories. Independently of the expert jury, the Students' Award was also presented in each category and the Listeners' Award in the Podcast category.
The winning entries in the Documentary category offer a look at the chilling experiences of women encountering aggression and hatred in everyday situations, at life and everything connected to it in the form of a poetic diary, or the theme of acceptance and coming to terms with a family member's terminal illness. The selected works in the international category News Report provide testimonies of the lives of ordinary people and bring to light the topic of Ukrainian women giving birth in constant danger, the misfortunes of a family and an entire village in Ukraine, or the testimony of a little girl abandoned in a baby box. In the Drama category, the jury appreciated the varied works full of children's fantasy or fear and processes in the human head. In the youngest Podcast category, the winning entries were a story of Namibian children brought to the former Czechoslovakia, an ecological true-crime about the life of birds of prey in the Czech Republic, or a podcast combining humour and literary interpretation that invites people to read classic literature.
"Congratulations to the winners of the 40th edition of the Prix Bohemia Radio international festival competition. This year's jubilee edition offered exceptionally high quality works and a very busy accompanying programme. I believe that the festival of radio production brought many interesting ideas and a lot of new inspiration not only to the nominated artists, but also to the students and all other visitors of the festival," said René Zavoral, Director General of Czech Radio.
The international jury awarded the following three best entries in each category:
Documentary
1. Hotel Hate, author and director: Brit Jensen, dramaturge: Lukáš Houdek, sound design and mix: Adam Voneš, producer: HateFree Culture
2. Let It Be, authors: Jiří Slavičínský and Ivan Kačur, director: Jiří Slavičínský, dramaturge: Brit Jensen, sound design: Martin Ožvold, producer: Vratislav Šlajer, production company: Audionaut-Bionaut
3. Five Stages of Grief, author: Eliška Mádrová, dramaturge: Brit Jensen, sound design: Roman Kabelka, producer: Masaryk University
Special Mention:
In the Trailer, author: Eva Lammelová, dramaturge: Brit Jensen, sound design: Adam Voneš, producer: HateFree Culture
News Report
1. Ukrainskie ženy ir medkai o gimdymą karo metu: gyvenimas visada laimi / Life Always Wins: Ukrainian Women and Doctors Reflect on Childbirth in Wartime
Ieva Balsiūnaitė, LRT - Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Lithuania
2. Babybox stories - Johanna / Babybox stories - Johanna
Veronika Hlaváčová, Czech Radio Radiožurnál, Czech Republic
3. "У кожній хаті тепер горе" - у Грозі готуються do масового поховання / "There is sorrow in every house now" - in Groza People Are Preparing for a Mass Burial
Dmytro Grebinnyk, Ukrainske Radio Suspilne (UA: PBC), Ukraine
Special mention:
Help for Vuhledar under Fire by Martin Dorazín, Czech Radio
Let us Aross the Rio Grande! by Jan Kaliba, Czech Radio
Europa-Journal: Ukraine - Radio Experiences Rebirth in Times of War by Daniela Prugger, ORF - Austrian Broadcasting Corporation
Drama
1. Why Is Heaven So Far Away, written by Matěj Samec based on the book by Daisy Mrázková, director by Bela Schenková, dramaturgy by Lenka Veverková, music by Jan Trojan, sound and technical realization by Tomáš Pernický.
2. Mr. Theodor Mundstock, written by Ladislav Fuks, radio dramatization by Lenka Veverková, directed by Aleš Vrzák, dramaturgy by Zuzana Sikačová, music by Jan Trojan and Ester Grohová, sound and technical realization by Tomáš Pernický
3. Crossroads, written by Pavel Molek, directed by Petr Mančal, dramaturgy by Klára Novotná, music by Miroslav Tóth, sound and technical realization by Jonáš Rosůlek
Podcast
1. Where Is My Home?, written and directed by Lukáš Houdek, sound design and mix by Adam Voneš, dramaturgy by Brit Jensen, producer by HateFree Culture
2. Tarts Read, authors Ivana Veselková and Zuzana Fuksová, producer Czech Radio Wave
3. Karina the Eagle Has Died, directed by Zdeněk and Květa Chaloupka, sound: Adam Levý, producer: Vratislav Šlajer, collaborators: Brit Jensen, Míša Hoffová, Kateřina Hobrlandová, Eva Červenková, Anička Bělková, Stanislav Kopáček, Olga Hesounová, production company:
Special mention:
Disappearance, author: Matěj Samec, director: Bohdan Karásek, sound: Džian Baban and Jakub Školný, sound design and music: Džian Baban, dramaturgy: Klára Fleyberková, producer: Czech Radio
For the first time in the Podcast category the Listener's Choice Award was included and it was awarded to Where Is my Home? by Lukáš Houdek which traces the memories of Namibian children who found themselves in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s.
The Student Jury Prizes were also awarded in each category independently of the expert jury. In the Documentary category, the award went to Brit Jensen for Hotel Hate. In the International News Report category, the Student Jury Prize went to Lithuanian author Ieva Balsiunaite for her work Life Always Wins: Ukrainian Women and Doctors Reflect on Childbirth in Wartime. In the Drama category, the Students´ Jury awarded the play Why is Heaven So Far Away intended for children. In the Podcast category the student jury selected the final entry Disappearance, created by Matěj Samec and directed by Bohdan Karásek, for the best podcast.
The closing ceremony of this year's Prix Bohemia Radio Festival took place on Thursday 17 October at the premises of Czech Radio Olomouc. The gala evening was hosted by the moderator Jitka Novotná and featured a performance by the Czech Radio Brass Quartet. The closing of the 40th anniversary year of the festival was broadcast live by Czech Radio Vltava and Czech Radio Olomouc.