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Here is the text of the fiction jury's
report which Tim helped type on a Prix Italia laptop in the early hours of
Saturday morning 28/6/97.
The Chair: Christopher Williams- The Australian
Broadcasting Corporation:
'Good morning to you Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests, my brothers
and sisters the makers of radio drama and to all our colleagues in broadcasting.
Shortly I will announce the winners for the Prix Italia and Special Prize
for Radio Fiction. But first, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to my
colleagues on the radio fiction jury.
From Sarajevo, Miralem Ovcina, director and
dramaturg with RTVBH,
From Frankfurt, Christoph Buggert, Head of Radio
Drama at Hessischer Rundfunk,
From Seoul, Won-Seok Cho, Chief Producer for the
Radio Drama Department of KBS,
From Oslo, Nils Nordberg, Director and Dramaturg
with NRK,
From Stockholm, Eva Stenman-Rotstein, Director and
Dramaturg in the Drama Department of Swedish Radio,
and from London Tim Crook, Director and Producer of
Independent Radio Drama at LBC Radio.
   
It has indeed been a privilege for me to work with colleagues who exhibit
such professionalism, integrity, and generosity and I take this opportunity to
extend my thanks to them. I thank them for their passion, intellectual rigour
and good humour.
On behalf of the jury I would also like to thank members of the Secretariat
of the Prix Italia, and in particular Diana Palma, Clizia Moffa and Fifolle
Colby for their gracious assistance.
Unlike the members of the radio documentary jury, we the members of the
radio fiction jury say that we always welcome programmes which show compassion
and artistic integrity in exploring the depth of human experience, regardless of
their location or context.
Over the last ten days we have sat in a railway carriage with a young girl
blinded by war in Sarajevo, we have walked Vladimirskaya Square with an aging
couple trying to rescue their crumbling dreams, we have heard a Downs Syndrome
youth plead for the right of disabled people to their own life from the top of a
windswept firetower in Canada, we have found ourselves trapped in a sealed
coffin six feet underground in a Dublin graveyard, we have seen an old woman
standing in her derelict apartment in Budapest begging a government official to
leave it as it is, and we have roamed the seamier streets of Paris in pursuit of
obsessive love. We have been moved by compelling human drama, entertained by the
wit and joie de vivre of the writer's imagination and exhilarated by the
creative audacity of our fellow programme-makers from many countries.
In arriving at our choice of outstanding programmes for the Prix Italia and
Special Prize the criteria we applied were:
the overall quality of the production,
the creative use of radio in telling stories,
the ability to broaden and enrich the listening experience for a
contemporary audience.
In the case of the special prize we were looking for a programme which
a) presents new directions for the realisation of radio drama;
and
b) demonstrates outstanding achievement in a particular aspect of
production.
The jury were able to reach a unanimous agreement on ten plays which merited
consideration for a prize.
These are in the order in which they were heard:
From Ireland, The Psychiatrist's Tale,
From Austria, Disturbance,
From Russia, Vladimirskaya Square,
From Finland, Rapture,
From Hungary, Happiness,
From Denmark, Return of the Squirrel,
From Italy, Popcorn,
From The Netherlands, The Crackle,
From the United Kingdom, The Voluptuous Tango,
and from Canada, The Mourning Dove.
Of those on our short list we have singled out three for special mention:
They are the following:
For outstanding achievement in a contemporary radiophonic dramaturgy, sound
design, technical production and performance which presents the stream of
consciousness of a paranoid individual- 'The Disturbance' written by Werner
Kofler, directed by Robert Matejka, sound by Gerhard Wieser and Herta
Schumlitsch and produced by Konrad Zobel for ORF.
Also for its contribution to a contemporary radiophonic dramaturgy,
particularly in the integration of vocal performance and sound design in a play
of psychological realism exploring the emotions and fears of a younger
generation - 'Return of the Squirrel' by Morti Vizki, with sound by Solveig
Berger, and directed by Henrik Sartou for Danmarks Radio.
And for its achievement in the realisation of a truly post-modern radio
drama and for its exploration of the tension between radio archive material and
human memory to pursue questions of human identity- 'The Crackle' written and
directed by Peter Te Nuyl, with sound by Leo Knikman for NPS, in the
Netherlands.
Now we come to the award for the 1997 special prize for radio fiction. The
Winner of the 1997 Special Prize was chosen for its innovation in the art of
radio fiction. Members of the jury believe they have been presented with a
programme which has developed a new approach to the making of radio drama. An
approach I can only describe as choreophony. The winner is 'The Voluptuous
Tango' by David Zane Mairowitz, with music by Dominic Muldowney, and sound by
Ian Dearden. It was produced by Ned Chaillet for the BBC.
The jury notes with regret that changes in the structure of production and
broadcast at the BBC may now diminish the likelihood of the emergence of
productions which display the adventurousness, artistic integrity, innovation
and general calibre of The Voluptuous Tango.
And now for the Prix Italia for Radio Fiction. This is a programme which is
truly outstanding in every aspect of the art of radio: script, sound design,
performance, music and technical production. We believe it broadens and enriches
the listening experience for a wide audience.
The programme which displayed the highest quality overall in the production
of radio fiction and the winner of the 1997 Prix Italia is 'Popcorn' written by
Tiziano Scarpa with music by Luciano Francisci, with sound by Pino Incradona and
produced by Anna Rosa Mavaracchio for RAI.
Finally, the members of the radio fiction jury wish to thank all the makers
of radio drama in the 1997 Prix Italia. You have helped make this a most
stimulating and indeed inspiring event for each one of us.
Christopher Williams (ABC) Chair of the jury Radio
Fiction, Ravenna, 28th June 1997. | 
