Find Your Own Hero.cz
Heroes embody the key characteristics of a given culture, of each nation, each social group. The discourse on heroes is a discourse about the character of a nation, about the sense of its history as well as its past.
The quarter of a century of peace, freedom, democracy and relative wellbeing has not brought many opportunities for heroism though. Young people consider as their role-models mostly show business stars, Iron Man, or lifeguards. The memory of the nation is being gradually shifted into books. Nevertheless, even today there is a plenty of opportunities for heroism, making it necessary for people to have at least some role-models. The aim of the project is to show that despite the popular Czech relativism we do have, and always have had heroes around us, of whom we may be proud. And we may even find some heroism inside of ourselves, or inside of our close ones.
2015 is the year of heroic anniversaries: 70 years since the end of World War II; 600 years since Jan Hus was burned at the stake; the continuing memory of the 100 years since World War I.
Therefore, Czech Radio launches project HRDINA.CZ which is an "umbrella brand" for several projects of Czech Radio. There will be several projects running throughout the year: on air, off-air, online, and in an interactive form.
1. April to mid-May: "The end of war"
March 31st - May 5th: "70 Protectorate Stories"
During this time interval, the two nationwide radio stations, Radiožurnál and Dvojka, as well as Plus and regional stations will broadcast 70 Protectorate stories in the form of reports, interviews, montages. The ambition is to look for less known stories, new viewpoints, new facts.
March 15th - May 8th: "Protectorate Radio Retro"
Radio Retro, 1939-1945, an 8th edition of a broadcast loop consisting of archive programmes with presenters, will be tuned to the wartime events. The online stream is available at hrdina.cz, encompassing the time period between March 15th 1930 and May 8th 1945.
May 3rd, and May 5th: "Off-air celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II."
The anniversary of the end of World War II will bring two events: The concert of Czech Radio on the Pilsen Square on May 3rd; and video mapping at the Old Town Square in Prague on May 5th. The latter will also include a ceremonious exposure of a memorial plate bearing the names of the forgotten heroes of the Battle of the Radio who have been recently discovered.
2. Mid-June to mid-July: "Jan Hus"
This project launches series of reportages and docudramas on Jan Hus, to be broadcast on Czech Radio stations Dvojka, Vltava and perhaps Plus. These will run up till July 6th, the day of the anniversary of Jan Hus' death by burning at a stake.
Throughout 2015: webpage Hrdina.cz
The webpage http://www.rozhlas.cz/hrdina/portal/ covers all the above mentioned projects as they follow each other, and will be altered accordingly. The website will contain materials from the broadcast, additional viewpoints, information, new views, and interactive elements. These interactive services will be mostly used for the project "Heroes with a Question Mark."
The website users and listeners will be also asked to participate on a big national poll inspired by the 2014 poll by the EBU. They will answer challenging and soul-searching questions such as: "For whom or for what you would be willing to lay down your life today?"; "Who is in your eyes the greatest national hero?" and others.
Throughout 2015: A theme project for Czech Radio Vltava "Year of the Hero"
Regular daily 10-minute forms. The topic of heroism will penetrate more or less the whole majority of programmes: heroes in poetry and songs, opera heroes, Czech drama, radio plays, reading in instalments.
Stay tuned for more interesting projects coming up in September until the “Year of the Hero” is out.
Jiří Hošna
Spokesperson
Tel: +420 725 793 397
E-mail: jiri.hosna@rozhlas.cz