

FINALISTS (pdf) | SHORTLIST: R · T · D | 2025 COMPETITION
Geneviève Levasseur (CBC/SRC, Canada), Antti Karhumäki (YLE, Finland), Kevin Reynolds (RTÉ, Ireland), Toms Andris Putniņš (LSM, Latvia), Aleksandra Urošević (RTS, Serbia), Peter Pavlac (STVR, Slovakia), Ersoy Haktanir (TRT, Türkiye), Yevhenii Chyzh (UA: PBC, Ukraine).
The President: Aleksandra Urošević (RTS, Serbia).
Ballade de la baleine (The Ballad of the Beluga)
Author: David Lescot. Direction: Sabine Zovighian, Samuel Hirsch. Actor: Ludmilla Dabo, Antoine Sarrazin et Emma Liégeois. Editing: Sabine Zovighian. Producing Organisation: ARTE Radio.
"When an animal imitates humans, people say it's smart. That's also what adults say about children". A white whale near the coast, wearing a harness – wasn't it spotted before, playing rugby? Could it be the beluga accused of spying for Russia? In August 2024, Hvladimir the whale was found dead after years off Norway's coast. From this strange and political tale, Writer-Director David Lescot composed a musical, aquatic radio ballad. Spoken and sung at 67 BPM by Ludmilla Sabo, Antoine Sarrazin and Emma Liégeois, directed by Sabine Zovighian and Samuel Hirsch, this epic of the secret-agent whale drifts through mysteries: Who was it? What did it want? Can animals go to war? And what was it trying to tell us? A dreamy investigation into memory, absurdity, and the blurry line between human and animal.
Presented by: Samuel Hirsch, Codirector
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Samuel Hirsch has produced and composed the music for half of Arte Radio's podcasts since 2005, including "Un podcast à soi" by Charlotte Bienaimé, "Beatmakers" with David Commeillas, and "Bookmakers" by Richard Gaitet. He also composes for television and the Ethio-jazz group Arat Kilo. |
Truth, Love or Promise
Author, Actor: Nuala McKeever. Direction: Kevin Reynolds. Editing: Damian Chennells. Producing Organisation: RTÉ Radio.
Truth, Love or Promise is written and performed by Nuala McKeever, who plays… Brenda, The Narrator: a woman who joins a writing class. Maureen: separated, straight talking woman from West Belfast. Joanna: an English woman who finds herself in Belfast after her husband is transferred to The North. Three women meet at a creative writing class in Belfast. As the course progresses, Brenda, Maureen and Joanna get to know each other through their stories. But it's the things they're not saying that really tell the tale. Gradually through laughter and tears, the truth emerges. When the truth turns out to be shocking, they must decide what ultimately matters most – Truth, Love or Promise.
Presented by: Nuala McKeever, Writer, performer
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Nuala McKeever was born and raised in Belfast. She first came to public attention as part of the comedy troupe, "The Hole In The Wall Gang". After two series of their TV sitcom, "Give My Head Peace", Nuala was offered her own TV show on Ulster Television. "McKeever", a comedy character show, ran for three series. After that, she decided to write and perform a one woman play; put it on; sell tickets and make a living. It worked! "Out of The Box" (dir. Andrea Montgomery 2006) was a smash hit. Her second play, "In the Window" (dir. Andrea Montgomery 2012) has toured Ireland over several years. It ran for a month in Edinburgh, after which she was invited to perform it in India and the USA, twice. Currently writing a new play and several episodes of a TV drama, Nuala divides her time between pondering the big existential questions of life and feeling guilty for eating too much sourdough bread ("It's just so nice!"). |
Saint Joan of the Anthropocene
Author: Linda Marshall Griffiths. Direction, Producer: Nadia Molinari. Actor: Safia Oakley-Green, Cel Spellman, Toby Jones, Jenny Platt, Rupert Hill, aTachia Newall, Kiara Kiandra, Esh Alladi Louis Brown, Ethan Cale, Katie Fletcher, Leah Gwendolyn, Naomi Ricci, Una Togher, Elsa Tuxworth, Samuel Tweats. Editing: Sharon Hughes. Producing Organisation: BBC Studios Audio Drama.
A re-imagining of Bernard Shaw's classic play Saint Joan, set in a contemporary context where Joan is a young climate activist. Inspired by Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future; a youth-led global climate justice movement. In response to the decimation of the natural world, Joan calls for government action on the climate emergency, catching the imagination of young people who join her in protest. Joan speaks at the UN, and an agreement is reached. But soon world leaders renege on their commitments and ignore her. When Joan takes extreme action masterminding "dark cities" attacking global infrastructure, she is arrested, extradited to the US and put on trial for terrorism. In court Joan passionately defends her work for the broken planet that she is fighting for. She will never, whatever the consequences, turn away from that. This production combines both as the narrative is reimagined in a contemporary context where Saint Joan is a young British climate activist. The drama explores one of the biggest questions for a young activist: "how far should I go? If nothing changes, even as politicians promise change will come, then what do I do?". A genius may appear only once in a generation, but perhaps all those young people who understand what the world could look like, can become a new kind of genius that makes Joan's vision real. The cast includes award winning actors Safia Oakley Green and Toby Jones and multiple young voices as chorus. The dynamic sound-world combines dialogue, interior voice, and recorded voices on mobile phones and online.
Presented by: Nadia Molinari, Producer, BBC Studios Audio
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Nadia Molinari has been producing and directing for over 30 years. She began her career in live performance directing theatre, opera and contemporary dance. She is a producer with BBC Studios Audio and joined the BBC in 2001. She has produced and directed over 200 audio drama productions of original dramas and series, dramatisations, adaptations, podcasts and drama-documentaries. She has collaborated with composers, musicians and orchestras; has produced and directed productions in binaural and surround sound; recorded dramas on location and at festivals in front of an audience. Her audio productions have won several awards including: Grand Prix Nova binaural category for "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall" in 2023 and "Martha" by Thomas Pickles in 2018; BBC Radio & Music Best Drama Award for "On Kosovo Field" by PJ Harvey and Fin Kennedy in 2017; Grand Prix Marulic for "Orpheus and Eurydice" by Linda Marshall Griffiths in 2016; a number of her productions have also won BBC Audio Drama Awards for Best Sound and Best Adaptation and in 2017 "The Sky is Wider" by Linda Marshall Griffiths won Best Single Drama. |