1997

RIAS RADIO AND TV AWARDS 1997

Awards were given for radio and TV productions which made special contributions to the mutual understanding between the people of Germany and of the United States of America.


THE AWARD WINNERS

1st Radio Award
Steffen Radlmaier

 

Wäschehändler, Weltbürger und ein Weltstar — Billy Joel und seine Familie (BR Studio Franken)

The feature presents the little-known but typical story of the Jewish Joel family. It relives the emigration in the 1930s of popstar Billy Joel’s grandfather, entrepreneur Karl Joel, and the forced sale of his mail-order firm to Josef Neckermann.


1st Radio Award
Tom Banse

 

Of Boeing, Beer, Benefits and Berlin: The Unexpected Connection between Germany and the Pacific Northwest (KUOW-FM, Olympia WA)

In interviews with Microsoft employees in Bavaria and Washington State the author contrasts the very different styles and concepts of social benefits in the US and Germany.


1st TV Award
Manfred Behrens, Theo Roos

 

Hier oder nirgends ist Amerika — Wunderland zwischen den Zeilen (WDR)

Hemingway, Kerouac, Bukowski, Salinger, and other American authors shaped the image of America for the postwar generation of both writers and readers in Germany.


2nd TV Award
Anja Riediger

 

Sachsen goes Amerika — eine Leipziger Kneipe im fernen Land (MDR)

This time it’s not Americans who are investing in Leipzig, but Saxons who are investing in New Leipzig. A group of young pubmeisters try their luck in a sleepy town in North Dakota.


2nd TV Award
Dick Custin

 

Life in the Fast Lane (WZZM, TV-13)

Michigan drivers experience Germany’s unlimited racing on autobahns with shock and admiration.


Commendation
Ingolf Rackwith

 

Oberlausitz und Texas — sorbische Solidarität durch Zeit und Raum (MDR info)

This program looks at the preservation over generations of the ethnic identity of a very special minority, the Sorbs, at home in Oberlausitz and in Texas. The program demonstrates how ethnic origin still influences peoples’ identities today.


Commendation
Johannes Eglau

 

Im Visier des FBI — deutsche Autoren im US-Exil (SFB Fernsehen)

The author interviewed not only relatives of spied-on emigre German authors like Thomas Mann, Bertold Brecht, and Lion Feuchtwanger, but also one of the FBI agents who shadowed them.


Special Appreciation
Sebastian Schubert

 

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