The official results of 11th Prix Marulic Festival

The 11th Marulic Radio Festival took place as usual on the island of Hvar and was attended by 35 delegates who travelled from as far afield as Canada, Australia, Ukraine and China; -and, naturally, there were many from Europe. They represented over 20 broadcasting organisations, -along with many delegates from the HRT itself. Over the six days of the Festival, 31 entries in all, (22 Dramas and 9 Documentaries), were auditioned by the nine-strong international jury, at various, (mostly open-air) venues. Every one of these entries was discussed in public and considered for the prizes by the jury. While, inevitably and as usual, the programme quality varied, the general standard and the production values were, if anything, particularly impressive this year, with several programmes drawing positive and appreciative comments from the jury and observers. With only a few avoidable exceptions, most of the programmes fell well within the special concept of Prix Marulic creatively and imaginatively, while several stretched and transcended the old, strict boundaries of radio genres. (John Theocharis)

RESULTS PRIX MARULIC 2007.

DRAMA CATEGORY, Prix Marulić 2007.

1. ROMANIA - Toma Enache: "Bucharest Underground"
author: Saviana Stanescu, Toma Enache; director: Toma Enache

2. GERMANY - "Popol Vuh - The Book of Origin of the Maya People" (DR Kultur/RBB/Radio Educacion)
author and director: Götz Naleppa

3. CHINA - "A Messenger in the Deep Mountains" (CNR)
author: Kan Ping; director: Cai Shuwen

4. GREAT BRITAIN - "Dead Souls - episode one" (BBC)
director: Polly Thomas

5. AUSTRALIA - "Darwin's Wings" (ABC)
author: Mette Jakobsen; director: Jane Ulman

DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY, Prix Marulić 2007.

1. GREAT BRITAIN - "In Form:Variations" (BBC)
author: Tim Jackson; director: Peter Leslie Wild

2. GERMANY - "Road to Timimoun" (SWR)
author and director: Jean-Claude Kuner

3. SERBIA - "Words That Wait" (ARTWORKS),
authors and directors: Snežana Ristić, Radonja Leposavić

4. GERMANY - "On the Traces of the Popol Vuh" (ARD RBB),
author and director: Anja Gundelach

5. AUSTRALIA - "A Foretaste of Heaven" (ABC)
author and composer: Sarah de Jong

Members of the international Jury were:

Peter Leslie Wild (BBC)
Robert Karge (SR2)
Darko Tralić (CROATIAN RADIO)
Li Xiaolei (CNR)
Toma Enache (RADIO ROMANIA)
Darja Hlavka (RADIO SLOVENIA)
Viki Janoušková (RADIO SLOVAKIA)

Presidents of the Jury were:

Hannu Karisto (YLE)
John Theocharis (Great Britain)

In the Drama Category, the two Marulic Commendations and the Grand Prix Marulic were awarded as follows, in ascending order:

The Second Commendation was awarded to a very human portrait of an ordinary, (and indeed rather extraordinary), postman. "A Messenger from the Deep Mountains" was a fascinating entry from China National Radio, written by Kan Ping and directed by Cat Shuwen. It was based on the true story of a Chinese postman who over twenty years, in the company only of his horse, has traversed mountains and rivers to deliver letters in a remote part of China. His single-minded dedication to duty, took its toll on his health and his family life. The play 'revisited' an archaic, and still surviving, mailing system. It was convincingly acted and sensitively, movingly and humorously put together, -and quickly gained the sympathetic ear of the jury.

The First Drama Commendation was awarded to a highly listenable composition featuring the text and language of the K'itche-Maya. "Popol Vuh - The Book of Origin of the Maya People" was an entry from Deutschland Radio Kultur, authored and directed by Götz Naleppa. The programme, revisiting the Maya peoples and their fight to preserve their cultural identity, was a dramatic, highly sensitive and imaginative interweaving of the old K'itche-Maya text, (which contains texts of the Creation), in two contemporary Maya languages, the German interpretation, music improvised on pre-hispanic instruments and flexible patterns that were never predictable, but always sounded fresh and attractive, -with the languages smoothly echoing each other. This impressively crafted piece for radio was warmly commented on by the jury.

The Grand Prix Marulic 2007 for Drama was awarded to a play in which the myth of Orpheus and his Eurydice is brought to pulsating modern life. Beautifully written, structured and performed, "Bucharest Underground" was from Radio Romania, written by Saviana Stanescu with Toma Enache, and directed by Toma Enache. The myth is organically linked with the story of a young woman who left her money-obsessed husband in New York, and was lost in the murky underworld of Budapest where she tried to help the homeless and drug-addicts. The two parallel plots, where myth, reality, opera and the surreal meet convincingly, also allow the play to comment on certain Romanian stereotypes and to give glimpses of the cruel opposite worlds of big business and of extreme poverty. In a moving denouement, the modern Orpheus rediscovers what really matters: his wife, his love, his innocence. The texture of the piece is an effortless flow from Romanian to American and back, with snatches from 'Orpheus in the Underworld'. The jury were unanimous in their appreciation.

(John Theocharis)

In Documentary Category:

The Second Commendation was awarded to "Words That Wait" entered by Artworks/Serbia. The authors, producers and directors are Snežana Ristić and Radonja Leposavić. This radio work is dealing with the words forgive and forget. When and how these two words may be used, why they are linked semantically, under what conditions they may be uttered after a crime, in which particular order. The themes of war and deeper meanings of these two words are very well connected. After listening you find yourself thinking of your own relationship to these words.

The First Commendation was awarded to "Road to Timimoun" entered by Südwestrundfunk SWR and directed by Jean-Claude Kuner. Two young men travel through Algeria. From the North to the South, from a European-oriented present into an archaic past, where the customs of the forefathers rule and the revenge of blood is the law. "Road to Timimoun" is a novel by Michael Roes. The writer did research for his novel in Algeria. Radio writer Jean-Claude Kuner accompanied him interweaving Algerian reality and poetic fiction - to create a radio piece that moves between reality and fiction, reportage and radio drama. The structure of this radio documentary is very complex, but it succeeds in creating a new world where the listener is taken. It doesn't underestimate the listener. This programme uses the means of the medium, the logic of radio story telling in a most successful way.

The Grand Prix Marulic 2007 for Documentary was awarded to "In From: Variations", entered by BBC and directed by Peter Leslie Wild. Two producers are a radio programme about Beethoven's 30th Piano Sonata, based around an interview with John Lill - one of the world's greatest Beethoven interpreters. One of the producers is knocked unconscious, and in her coma she finds herself in the company of Maximiliane Brentano, the young girl to whom Beethoven dedicated the sonata. The programme uses a unique blend of documentary material, drama and music to examine how a particular piece of music still affects us today. At the same time it asks important questions about the composer's inspiration for the piece, his relationship to Maximiliane Brentano and her mother, and how contemporary musicians interpret Beethoven. The programme is very finely crafted. Like the music, the programme is built around a series of variations.

(Hannu Karisto)