And the winners are...

Prix Europa 2011 award ceremony: The winners on stage. (twb)

So these are the winners of this year's Prix Europa, that amazing media festival awarding the best of the best public service productions: Congratulations! Well done! By today you belong to Europe's best media makers.

(And tidy up your desk – the Prix Europa bull will need some space.)

• TV Documentary: The Snow Ball War Darkness (Norway), Enemy Engagement (Germany)
• TV Current Affairs: Lost Honour – The Story of the Sürücü Family (Germany)
• TV Fiction: Sherlock – A Study In Pink (United Kingdom), The Strongest Man in Holland (The Netherlands)
• Prix Geneve Europe (best TV fiction script): Combat Girls (Germany)
• TV Iris (best multicultural TV programme): Winter of Love (The Netherlands)
• Languages Through Lenses (students' short films on learning languages): The Importance of Speaking Two Languages (Italy)
• Radio Documentary: My Grandfather’s Doublelife (Denmark), Ladies of the Manor – Scenes from a Marriage of Convenience (Austria)
• Radio Fiction: Tacet (Silence 2) (Germany), Home Goal (France)
• Radio Music (programmes on music): WDR 3 Favourites (Germany)
• Online: Nowhere Safe (France)
• Lifetime Achievement Award Radio: Raina Konstantinova (EBU)

The Top Five

Whatever production has made it to the Prix Europa, you will agree, belongs to the best productions there are. Yet, not any of them can win one of the bulls. So here is what the jurys have considered the top five of any category, the very essence of this year's Prix Europa.

No voting for "Farewell Comrades!"

It must have been a hard decision: The Online jury decided that they would not vote on "Farewell Comrades!" (entered by Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion Berlin, Arte France and ZDF), undoubtedly one of the most exciting projects presented in this year's competition. The reason for this is simple: The project had not been finished yet, and the glances the jury was able to have did not allow a final decision. Hence, no votes, no prize, at least not this year: "Farewell Comrades!", to be launched on November 1, has already been pre-nominated for the Prix Europa 2012.

Do you agree? Comments anyone?

Update: the Prix Europa press release on the subject.

Election for kids

Involving kids with politics: This is what "Lilla's Election Check" is all about. The crossmedia TV and web project was launched by the Swedish SVT in 2010, and it aimed at explaining the political process behind Sweden's general election. In the online project every aspect is assigned to a character: "Pelle" guides the visitor through ideologies, "Stephan" offers a stroll in parliament, "Andrea" explains the voting system, and "Madde" talks about democracy and dictatorship. Crossmedia for tomorrow's citizens: unconventional and inventive.

Within minitz

Minitz press conference with Doris Ahnen, minister of
education, Rheinland-Pfalz. (SWR/ARD)

News for kids aged from 8 to 12: "Minitz" is a crossmedia TV, radio, web and mobile programme presented by the German SWR and ARD. Three news topics are being produced every day - on politics, ecology, history, economy, on stars and animals. In the "Tim asks Tom" series the news anchorman Tom explains complex matters and connects them to today's news. Another part of the site is the "School for Reporters" where children can publish their own articles, photos or videos as well as create their own avatar which then will present their news. Charming.

Online battlefield

Historic battle simulation, minute by minute. (DR)

"The Battle at the Dybbøl 1864" is a landmark in Denmark's history. In a nationalist uproar Denmark declares war on the union of German countries. 5000 soldiers are killed, and Denmark is defeated. The state is reduced to half its size and will suffer from the consequences for generations.

This year the Danish radio DR decided to broadcast a minute-by-minute acoustic simulation of the central battle. The airplay was backed up by a website with background material, live blogging, interactive graphics and an interactive map allowing users to submit personal stories. A historic tragedy brought to life by means of the New Media: This is what history lessons 2.0 might look like.

Farewell USSR!

1991. The USSR collapses, the Cold War is history. "Farewell Comrades!" presented by Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion Berlin, Arte France and ZDF is a pan-European crossmedia project that will be launched on November 1. Its core is a 6*52-minute TV series backed up by a book project and an immersive web documentary aiming at giving a bigger picture by taking the audience on an emotional interactive journey through the former Soviet Union.

The stories about friendship, passion, conviction and rebellion are represented by postcards written during the last 15 years of the USSR. Clicking a postcard will launch one of the 25 touching video portraits of the writer. A huge web doc framed by background information of any kind: "Farewell Comrades!" is a history lesson on 1991, skilfully told in today's media.

Crisis reports

Politics from a close-up perspective: Pervenche Berès.
(Honkytonk Films/France Télévisions)

Global financial crisis, southern European states facing economic breakdown, hardly any solutions in sight: "Rapporteur de Crise" entered by Honkytonk Films/France Télévisions tries to trace the activities of members of the European parliament (MEP) which a whole continent expects solutions from.

"Rapporteurs of Crisis" is a TV and web documentary following MEP Pervenche Berès, reporter of the special committee on the financial, economic and social crisis. Her goal: to find a political compromise and a sustainable recovery plan. International politics from a close-up perspective, offering a huge amount of background information, and expertly done.

Hell's angels

Close-mouthed brotherhood: Hells Angels. (NRK)

"The Brotherhood" presented by the Norvegian NRK is an in-depth TV and web report on the Hells Angels and their criminal activities. The website provides dozens of articles, an interactive map, video shorts and three TV documentaries that have been broadcast in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland so far. NRK's "Brennpunkt" (focus) editors aimed at unveiling the mafia structure of the motorcycle gang and its criminal activities, from robbery to bombing and murder.

The Hells Angels are a close-mouthed organisation, and it took years of meticulous research to do both the TV serial and the website. A risky task: "Web developer will remain anonymous due to security", the festival catalogue says. Investigative journalism at its best.

Dark memories

Munich during the times of Nazi terror. Jewish people were discriminated, beaten up, deported, and murdered. In "Memory loops" entered by the Bavarian radio and the ARD we hear moving reports of victims, transcribed and read by actresses and actors, and historical documents read by children.

"Memory loops" is a radio and web documentary project largely done by the author, composer and designer Michaela Melián. 300 German and 175 English tracks, all of them sound collages presented on an interactive city map or being played as you stroll through Munich's streets, a sombre interactive radio documentary with a huge amount of archive material artfully composed: "Memory loops" is a virtual memorial to the victims of the National Socialist regime.

City life round and round

"360 Degrees Langstrasse" presented by the Swiss SRF is a TV doc series (aired in August/September 2011) and a web documentary project about Zurich's famous Langstrasse by day and by night. It is a virtual stroll along the road, a road that has seen big changes in the past years. The brothels and night clubs have gone one by one, to be replaced by fancy bars and lounges, expensive apartments and businesses.
"360 Degrees Langstrasse" makes us hear the sounds and explore the places, providing 360 degree views of key locations, and makes us meet people working and living in a street said to be Switzerland's most vibrant area. A nice, authentic, colorful project about everyday life in the city.

Mohammed's journey

Mohammed al Masmoudi. (twb)

Mohammed al Masmoudi is a young man from Morocco. "I feel like a stranger", Mohammed says, "within my country, my language, my religion, my own body". Being discriminated is common to him - both for his name and origin, and for his handicap: Mohammed is about four feet tall, due to a misconducted medical treatment done in Casablanca when he was a child. "Mohammed's Journey" makes us follow Mohammed's way through life, makes us see things as he does, and it makes us feel all the terrible discriminations a man encounters when bearing the Prophet's name, when originating from a Muslim country, and when being a dwarf.

The Italian TV and web documentary presented by Zeligfilm is not yet another stop discrimation story. "Mohammed's Journey" is an upsetting and insistant plea for tolerance and respect.

25 years! Cheers!

Birthday party at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin. (twb)

Hap-py birth-day to you,
Hap-py birth-day to you!
Hap-py birth-day
Prix Euro-pa,
Hap-py birth-day to you!

Reinventing public service media

Panel at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin. (twb)

The panelists' names are a Who is Who of Europe's media landscape, assembled in the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin: Ruurd Bierman (Netherlands, NPO), Dagmar Reim (Germany, RBB), Ingrid Deltenre (Switzerland, EBU), Jean Reveillon (France Télévisions), Roger de Weck (Switzerland, SRG-SSR), Lauri Kivinen (Finland, YLE), Thomas Bellut (Germany, ZDF), and Arne Wessberg, former CEO of YLE, discuss the future of public service media.

Technologies change. Audiences change. Markets change. How can public service broadcasters meet the multiple challenges? How can they be faithful to their mission, keep up media quality and their specific values - and successfully compete with commercial companies at the same time, even with global media platforms such as Google or Facebook?

Claustrophobia

The radio fiction jury at work. (twb)

Emma has got a new job. Her boss, friendly and caring, tells her to make regular reports on what she does and how she feels. Soon Emma realizes that life at the company is strictly controlled. When she falls in love with a colleague and thus breaks a taboo, the nightmare begins.

The young British playwright Mike Bartlett takes a simple plot and develops it to the extreme. How much can a company expect from its employees? And how much are they willing to reveal? "Nachwehen" directed by Stephan Heilmann from Swiss SRF (soundtrack by Philipp Schaufelberger) is a chokingly claustrophobic piece about control turning into terror.

Incredible stories

Soviet Union, around 1960. Only married communist party members (without any relatives abroad) are allowed to travel abroad. Before getting the permission to leave they are admonished that Coca Cola is a bourgeois drink, that they shall never show delight and above all avoid contact with locals.

"Incredible Stories" is a satirical radio series presented by the Georgian radio, about the Soviet tourists' impressions. "I don't pay any attention to anybody", one of them says while visiting France: "My thoughts and eyes are cherishing Tbilisi. How beautiful it is! It seems I am still in Paris, but the problem is that there's no funicular in Paris."

Apocalypse now

"One day. Something happens. In Kirkjubaejarklaustur."
"Where?"
"Kirkjubaejarklaustur."
"What?"
"Something."
"Kirkjubaejarklaustur", the Belgian radio drama directed by Sebastian Dicenaire, lets us wander about in windy, hostile Iceland, together with Sven who had been left there by his friends. We get lost in a world oscillating between dream and nightmare.
"Weather flash for the citizens of Kirkjubaejarklaustur: Only 10 minutes until the end of the world. Last call."
"Kirkjubaejarklaustur" is a radio play made of vocal sounds only, a play as absurd and delirious as the apocalyptic world it depicts.

Booze

Loudspeaker in the radio ficion auditioning room. (twb)

"Booze: Little Vera" written and directed by Georg Larsen and presented by the Danish DR tells the touching story of the 54-year-old Karen living in Aarhus. Karen, divorced, mother of a grown-up daughter called Helen, is an alcoholic on the brink of death. She checks in at the Tranegaarden rehab center. Bo, the therapist, digs deeper, and it turns out that both mother and daughter have a story to tell. Very different stories after all.

Back to the future III

2047. 91-year-old Ireneusz Slupezki lies in pain, with cancer creeping up his spine. Slupezki lies in his iron hospital bed, helpless, drifting between dreams of a long forgotten past and a reality ruled by deadhearted nurses, left with the only perspective of dying in agony. Yet, there is a way out, offered by a hyperactive young doctor: euthanasia.

"Cry, O Lord" is the radio drama by Wlodzimierz Kowalewski and Janusz Kijowski based on a novel of the same title, a nightmarish vision of a world having lost its spiritual scaffold.

Back to the future II

Jens-Uwe Bornemann, head of the UFA lab. (twb)

The UFA, formerly "Universum Film" and founded in 1917, stands for the shining past of German filmmaking, and it equally stands for its future. Jens-Uwe Bornemann gives an insight into the work of the UFA lab, the new media content laboratory providing customised content for all new digital technology and distribution platforms.

As the film industry is about to merge with the game industry media makers have to meet new challenges. The UFA does crossmedia and transmedia experiments, and they started by providing a flat in Berlin-Kreuzberg equipped with all the infrastructure creative people need to produce any kind of digital content. "New media companies are driven by technology", Bornemann says, "but we care about content". The heart of the UFA lab is a development infrastructure where freelance talents can start developing whatever they are up to. One of the latest UFA lab projects was the transmedia movie "Who Saves Dina Foxx", a transmedia project of the German ZDF.

Media content and games, the web and mobile platforms, all mixed together: There are so many facets of media making yet to be discovered.