Unique Czech Radio project won EBU grant
The “1968 in Prague, in Paris, and on the Radio” project focusing on the 50th anniversary of the 1968 events was successful in the European Broadcasting Union’s grant procedure focusing on innovative formats and development of radio broadcasting. Czech Radio plans to capture the historical events using virtual reality and surround sound. The project will be co-developed with participation of the Radio France innovation team. Only four (namely the Czech Republic, Belgium, Slovenia and the UK) out of fourteen applicants from among European broadcasters received funding support.
The “1968 in Prague, in Paris, and on the Radio” project planned for 2018 will convey the events of 1968 from the perspective of young people in Paris and Prague. The grant amount is CZK 1 600 000.
“The project’s goal is to convey in an attractive and unique ways the feelings and experiences of people living through the August 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces and the 1968 occupation of Sorbonne by French students, both to listeners who witnessed these events themselves and younger audiences. Only projects with potential long-term benefits for European radio that bring something innovative and revolutionary to radio broadcasting have a chance of obtaining funding from the Euroradio Innovation Fund. Therefore, we consider it a great success that our project succeeded in winning this grant,” said René Zavoral, the Director General of Czech Radio.
The events of 1968 significantly influenced the future development of European countries and split Europe into East and West in the decades that followed. While the May 1968 events in Paris initiated by the students resulted in important cultural, political and economic reforms in France and played a role in a significant liberalisation of western European society, August 1968 saw the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces and the tightening of the Communist regimes in eastern Europe – a period of repression known as “normalisation”.
Czech Radio will address the 1968 events in a broader European context and, thanks to the co-operation with Radio France, will offer its audiences a unique insight into the lives of young people in Paris and Prague.
Lucie Ryss
Communication Specialist
tel.: 702 125 035
e-mail: lucie.ryss@rozhlas.cz