A 13-member jury, including
Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wagner, has nominated three works for the 68
th Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden [Radio Play Award of the War Blinds], which will be awarded on 7 May at Deutschlandfunk Köln. The winner of the renowned award, awarded by the Bund der Kriegsblinden e.V. [Association of the War-Blinds] (BKD) and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, will be announced on 29 April.
From the
Press Release of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW GmbH:
Chaired by cultural scientist Gaby Hartel, the jury (see below) nominated the following three productions:
"Auf der Suche nach den verlorenen Seelenatomen [In Search of the Lost Soul Atoms]" by Susann Maria Hempel, Production: RBB
In her radio play, the author talks to a former GDR prisoner who suffered a severe shock in prison, followed by amnesia. As a supposed refugee from the Republic, he had a different kind of border experience in prison. He says his soul was "taken out" of him and still lives in the forest today. When his oldest friend dies, the prisoner begins to tell the author about his life. The jury: "[...] Memory images emerge and disappear, fragments of experiences from the GDR and a self that is in constant danger of disappearing. This story of a damaged life is revealed over the duration of the seemingly sucked piece. [...] In the multiple artistic disruption of this story, the question of the soul and its fragility is extended into the universal and an emotional, as well as artistically highly complex, quiet piece emerges."
"Der Absprung [The Break]" by Paul Plamper, Production: WDR
An East German small town called "Leerstadt". In 2015, refugees arrived in the shrinking city. The conflicts over immigration escalate when a new-right demagogue uses the anger and fears of the citizens and calls for a boycott against the municipal theatre and its multinational ensemble. The city gets into a media whirl about racism accusations and Eastern prejudices. The radio play tells of inner conflict, the formation of camps and aims at a multi-layered representation of the current social centrifugal forces. The project forms the third and final part of Plamer's "Fremde&Geister [Foreigners&Ghosts]" trilogy on the construction of the foreign. Jury: "[...] Paul Plamper and his team revolve around the symbolic moment of the title-giving breakaway in a series of actions creating a possible everyday political world. Plamper's play represents approaches to the confrontation with 'the foreign' that have been observed in the cultural scene and the general population since 2015."
"Die Toten von Feuerland [The Dead of Tierra del Fuego]" by Ulrike Haage and Andreas Ammer, production: NDR, co-production: Deutschlandfunk Kultur
On 11 May 1830, the sailors of the "Beagle", a later famous research vessel, exchanged not only the usual tand for fish with the natives of Tierra del Fuego, but also the young Tierra del Fuego Orundellico of the Yamana tribe for a mother-of-pearl button. With the new name "Jemmy Button" he is shipped with three other patagons to England. An expert opinion concludes: "He could be made a useful member of society, but it would require great care as his obstinacy would interfere." A century later, Jemmy Button became the model for Michael Ende's children's book character Jim Knopf. The jury: "[...] Original sound recordings of the Yamana tribe speak with fragments from sailor songs, which are in dialogue with word lists of the natives of Tierra del Fuego and act as echo chambers of the concrete story of Jemmy Button. [...] Haage and Ammer [give] to the current debate about colonial crimes an emotionally enriched sound space."
Further information on the authors, the complete jury's opinions and links to the nominated radio plays can be found at www.filmstiftung.de/events/68-hoerspielpreis-der-kriegsblinden. The award ceremony, moderated by Ute Soldierer, will take place on 7 May at Deutschlandfunk Köln.
Since 1952, the Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden [Radio Play Award of the War Blinds] has been awarded annually to an original radio play produced for a German-language broadcaster, which realises and expands the possibilities of the art form in an outstanding way.
The Jury of the 68. Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden [68
th Radio Play Award of the War Blinds]
Blind jurors: Paul Baumgartner, Hans-Dieter Hain, Dietrich Plückhahn, Siegfried Saerberg, Dörte Severin
Culture professionals: Gaby Hartel (cultural scientist, chairwoman of the jury), Thomas Irmer (freelance journalist, e.g. Theater der Zeit), Eva-Maria Lenz (freelance journalist, FAZ, epd), Doris Plöschberger (Suhrkamp Verlag), Diemut Roether (epd medien), Hans-Urlich Wagner (Universität Hamburg, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow-Institut), Isabel Zürcher (critic, editor and publicist), Jenni Zylka (journalist, author and presenter), Jenni Zylka (journalist, author and presenter).
