Czech Radio’s thriller Uneasy garners attention and prize at the international Grand Prix Nova festival in Bucharest
The podcast series Uneasy from Czech Radio won 3rd place in the binaural category at the international radio festival Grand Prix Nova. The award for the psychological thriller by author Klára Vlasáková was accepted by creative producer Kateřina Rathouská in Bucharest last week.
Radio Wave's five-part podcast series tells the story of Petra and Simon's relationship. At first impression, they make an idyllic couple. But everything changes when they move into an apartment together and strange things start happening to Petra. Pieces of furniture change place, eerie noises come from the walls and she cannot banish their echo from her mind. The young woman begins to doubt her sanity. She is not sure if what she is hearing is really happening or if it’s just a figment of her imagination. Only a tragic celebration of the couple's first anniversary at a cabin in the mountains will reveal the truth.
"Our thriller Uneasy is very authentic thanks to the unique binaural sound technology used by sound designer Ondřej Gášek in making the podcast. This tech records sounds in the same way as the human ear. As a result, the listener hears all voices and sounds spatially and with three-dimension texture. In this way, the listener is drawn into the story and finds him- or herself directly in the minds of the protagonists," said Iva Jonášová, Production and Development Director.
"As usual, the competition at the festival was immense. We are delighted with the success. After the adaptation of Miloš Urban's horror story That Dreadful Charm of Autumn, this is the second prize for a Czech Radio binaural recording, this time for a series intended for the younger audience of Radio Wave," added Kateřina Rathouská, Creative Producer for Czech Radio.
The jury especially appreciated the sound design, which draws the listener deep into the story. "Uneasy captures the attention of young listeners and shows the power of immersive binaural sound," said Andreas Jungwirth and Reto Ott, coordinators of the Grand Prix Nova jury.
Uneasy was broadcast by Radio Wave, Czech Radio’s specialized youth station, as its third podcast series in September 2021. The main characters were portrayed by actors Viktor Kuznik and Tereza Císařová. Adam Ernest, Tereza Hofová and Natália Drabiščáková appeared in supporting roles. The thriller Uneasy was written for Radio Wave by Klára Vlasáková and directed by Natália Deáková. Kateřina Rathouská served as the project dramaturge, while Ondřej Gášek created the music for the production and acted as sound engineer, together with Dominik Budil. Visual director Diana Cam Van Nguyen animated and edited the podcast’s accompanying video.
The Uneasy team is currently working on a new podcast series for Radio Wave, this time starring Kryštof Krhovják, Martina Jindrová, Pavla Gajdošíková and Daniel Krejčík. The script was again written by Klára Vlasáková and is titled Ritual. Czech Radio will present the new podcast in autumn 2022.
The award-winning series Uneasy is available for listening on the mujRozhlas app, on the wave.cz/neklid website and on other podcast apps.