Hear Now!
Prix Europa, held every fall in Berlin’s historic
Haus des Rundfunks (Broadcasting House) is the prestigious annual competition that brings together the best of European radio, television, and multi-media productions. Producers and broadcasters submit their best work of the previous year. The prize-winners are selected by juries consisting of the peers of those who are entering the competition – each juror agrees to listen to (or watch) and score all entries in a given category. Radio Berlin-Brandenburg, the public broadcaster, hosts the competition. For the last several years, "Hear Now” has presented excerpts of the best European radio productions – with scripts provided in the original language and in English translations, following the example of Prix Europa itself. This evening will feature excerpts from four pieces presented at Berlin’s Prix Europa 2015 Competition.
Junkies in the Country (Poudreuse dans la Meuse)
Radio Documentary by Mehdi Ahoudig for ARTE Radio (France), 39 minutes
The
département (district) of the Meuse in northeastern France holds the national record for heroin consumption. With Maastricht in the Netherlands three hours' drive away, heroin is ravaging the countryside and the kids hanging out in bus shelters and around fountains. Linda, Gaelle and Sabbia are three young mothers who got hooked on heroin in their home village. Today, they are struggling with an addiction that has taken over their lives. Law enforcement, judiciary and medics explain the ins-and-outs of drug-taking in a rural district totally unprepared for this wave of junkies.
The Emergence of Terror - A Feature About the Escalation of Violence (Wie Terror entsteht - Ein Feature über die Eskalation von Gewalt)
Radio Current Affairs by Johanna Braun for WDR Radio (Germany), 53 minutes
Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in Kenya from terror attacks during the past few months. The Kenyan anti-terror police unit (ATPU) is dealing very harshly with any suspects. Human rights groups are accusing them of killing and getting rid of Muslims which the Kenyan government constantly denies. The Kenyan police are supported with training programs and materials from Germany. For a long time Kenya has been an important economic and political partner for the West, and lately an ally in the international fight against terror. Kenya is a front-line state in this battle, as it borders Somalia where the Islamist Al-Shabaab militants, who belong to Al Qaeda, are active. Al-Shabaab have carried out brutal attacks in Kenya and were responsible for the bloodbath at the University of Garissa in April 2015, where 148 people died.
Following intensive research, the author has gained an insight into the brutal reality of the Kenyan war against terror. A leading member of the ATPU tells her that the security forces are advised to take ‘no prisoners’ – just kill any suspects. This massive governmental force as a reaction to the terror is driving Kenyan Muslims into the arms of the Islamic militia. The fear of attacks is keeping tourists away. The people of Kenya are losing their work and poverty is spreading, making people more susceptible to radicalization by Al-Shabaab, who promise money in exchange for terror attacks. A vicious circle.
Boswell’s Lives: Boswell’s Life of Freud
Radio Fiction Series by the BBC
Boswell’s Lives is a new comedy series from the BBC in which James Boswell, Dr. Johnson’s celebrated biographer, pursues other legends to immortalize. In Episode One, he attempted to write a biography of Sigmund Freud but finds it is Freud who is asking all the questions. In the following episodes Boswell met Maria Callas, Harold Pinter and Boris Johnson. The series is now in its second season; we will present one of the programs.
The Voices of Elly Stone
Radio Music Program produced by BBC4 and Alan Hall of Falling Tree Productions
Elly Stone is a modest 87-year-old New Yorker ("born and dragged up"), whose sublime voice will forever be associated with the songs of Belgian chanteur Jacques Brel.
In My Childhood, Song for Old Lovers, The Old Folks and
Carousel, she brings a new perspective to Brel's familiar emotional intensity and piercing social commentary. Twenty years after her retirement from the stage, she offers a rare insight into her life and what music has meant to her - in a quiet New York studio, out on the streets of her bustling city and at Sardi's, the famous theater restaurant. Running through Elly's own story - from troubled childhood, through Broadway success, to marriage, motherhood and mid-life epiphany - there's a musical counterpoint that can be traced in the songs she famously made her own in the musical revue
Jacques Brel's Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
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