Radio plays - NRW Film Foundation awards Kriegsblinden audio drama prize
The traditional Audio Play Prize of the Blind Veterans will be suspended and modernized for a year. The prize will be awarded again in 2025, announced the Film and Media Foundation NRW and the German War and Blind Veterans Association as organizers. Until the renewed award, the prize will be "further developed with a broader orientation in the audio field," according to a statement.
The new managing director of the Film and Media Foundation, Walid Nakschbandi, stated that he would use his first year in office to "renew and expand this important prize." The audio field should no longer be limited to classical audio plays. The Kriegsblinden Audio Play Prize must keep up with the times.
With the prize, an original audio play is awarded every year that exceptionally utilizes the art form. The award is endowed with 5000 Euro. The prize was founded by the Federation of Blind Veterans in 1950.
The 72nd Kriegsblinden Audio Play Prize went to the radio play "Borderless II" by Robert Schoen in 2023. The play originated in the Russian city of Cherkessk in the conflict zone of North Caucasus. The director left the location to chance with a dice roll.
- Walid Nakschbandi, the new managing director of the Film and Media Foundation NRW, expressed his intention to modernize the traditional Audio Play Prize of the Blind Veterans, which originates from North Rhine-Westphalia, by broadening its focus in the audio field.
- The organizers, including the Film and Media Foundation NRW and the German War and Blind Veterans Association, revealed that the suspension of the prize for a year will be utilized to develop a more inclusive and contemporary version, with potential recognition coming in the form of awards in Düsseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia.
- In light of the modifications and the subsequent reintroduction of the Prize in 2025, radio plays from Germany and beyond could be eligible for recognition, potentially expanding the scope of the Kriegsblinden Audio Play Prize in the media landscape.
