NABILA (SWEDEN)
PRIX EUROPA IRIS INTERCULTURAL TELEVISION PROGRAMME OF THE YEAR 2004 TV NON-FICTION
Entered by: Sveriges Television, Sweden;
Author/director: Håkan Berthas, Johan Bjerkner
Camera: Håkan Berthas, Johan Bjerkner
Producer: Anita Evall
Through her music Nabila struggles to make the world a better place and for the right to live her own life on her own terms. Again and again, she is confronted with the attitudes of others and to the limitations of what an immigrant girl can be expected to achieve. She studies hard, to be, as she calls it, a "Welfare bitch" as education means power. She is absolutely determined to be better than the ‘Joneses’ next door. But she finds it hard to combine her university work with all the demonstrations, gigs and recording sessions. In the documentrary, Nabila turns out to be a woman who uses humour and inner strength to comment on politics, religion, racism and gender oppression.
Jury Laudatio:
'A portrait of a young immigrant woman living in Gothenburg, Sweden, who with her rap songs and participation in political demonstrations tries to make the world better. Her story is told in a skillfull way with humour and warmth; it gives us close insights in her life and relations with teachers, friends and family.'
Prix Europa IRIS 2004 TV Non Ficton Special Commendation
Some of My Best Friends Are.Jewish/Muslim
Entered by: Lion Television, UK
Author/director: Sally Aitken, Zoë Hassid
Camera: C. Angell, D. Meadows, G. Smith
Producer: Elizabeth Clough
Some of my best friends are.... is a two part series in which two persons explore what it is like being Muslim or Jewish in Britain today. Islam is the fastest growing faith in Britain. That should be a cause for celebration for Muslim journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. But in Some Of My Best Friends Are…Muslim” she admits that she is deeply worried that extremism is dominating Britain’s new Islam. Far from celebrating Islam’s runaway success, she’s convinced that the new Islam is becoming less tolerant and more dogmatic. In “Some Of My Best Friends Are…Jewish Anita Land thinks she knows exactly what it means to be Jewish. After all, she is a self-confessed Jewish princess, sister of Michael Grade and niece of showbiz moguls Lou Grade and Bernard Delfont. Problem is, being Jewish seems to mean arguing a lot and no one seems able to agree just what a Jew is.
Jury Laudatio:
'An enjoyable and informative walk through religious labyrinths that elucidates orthodox and liberal expressions of faith. The series has a charming format -sometimes humorous, sometimes serious - in which we meet representatives from different world religions in multicultural Great Britain'.
Prix Europa IRIS 2004 TV Non Ficton Special Commendation
In the name of the father
Entered by: Sveriges Television AB-SVT
Author/director: Nitza Kakoseos
Camera: Peter ostlund, Göran Gester, Michel Reiter
Producer: Ingemar Persson co-produced by: SVT, DR
A well-known date: September 11. Year 1973, Place: Santiago de Chile. This is the beginning of a brutal era in Chile’s history. It also heralds the beginning of the trauma 6-year old Raymond Paredes-Ahlgren (then aged 6) lives and faces in this documentary. Director and producer Nitza Kakoseos uses her own experiences of life in exile in Sweden to tell the story of Raymond's life. It is the story of a man in search of his father's and of his own past. Raymond's father was a socialist and a close friend of President Allende. In the book about his father "How many times can you kill a man?". Raymond Paredes Ahlgreand tells the story of his father's death. The story is told in an even more complex way via a personal interpretation by Nitza Kakoseos and through Raymond's confrontation with Chilean society where politics is still a matter of life and death.
Jury Laudatio:
'A fascinating story about a man in exile who goes back to his roots to reveal how his father was tortured and killed in the political coup on September 11 1973 in Chile. However, it is also about how this man increasingly becomes a psychological riddle for the filmmaker. A complex film with many layers and surprising developments.
