In the Audio Documentary category, Poland's entry is 12,000 Days: The Jan Heweliusz Ferry Disaster - The Day the Ferry Capsized, a podcast by Anna Dudzińska and Michał Matus of Polish Radio Three, with cooperation from Zuzanna Olbińska.
The five-part podcast explores the sinking of the Jan Heweliusz ferry, which took place on January 14, 1993, while travelling from the Polish port city of Świnoujście to Ystad in Sweden. The death toll of what is regarded as the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Polish history was 56 of the 65 passengers and crew on board.
The team of reporters managed to record interviews with some of the survivors of the tragedy and relatives of the victims, many of whom spoke to the media for the first time about the events of more than three decades ago. By a stroke of luck, some of the interviewees were traced by the reporters in Sweden and Italy, their current place of residence.
12,000 Days: The Jan Heweliusz Ferry Disaster - The Day the Ferry Capsized has been co-produced with Netflix.
Josima's Notebook is Polish Radio Warsaw’s entry in the Audio Music category. In it, reporter Magda Skawińska aims to safe from obscurity musical prodigy Josima Feldschuh, a Jewish girl who had to move to the Warsaw ghetto with her family in November 1940. It was there that, at the age of 11, she performed there a Mozart concerto. In 1943, the Feldschuh family managed to escape from the ghetto, but soon afterwards, Josima died of tuberculosis. She left a number of her own compositions. Thanks to her aunt, a notebook containing her music has survived to this day, and her works continue to be performed at various venues.
Prix Europa is one of the largest media festivals and competitions that promotes excellence in television, radio and online productions.
Now in its 40th edition, the event is scheduled for October 11-16 in Berlin.
(mk/jh)