In brief
"Trinksaifen was home for us" is a 36 minutes long radio documentary by Eva Blechová, produced and broadcast on Czech Radio Vltava in March 2013. The documentary is in Czech (and some German). It tells the story of three old ladies from Trinksaifen. Born in the 1920's, they lived all their lives in the same village and witnessed the events of World War II and the post-war expulsion of the German population from Czechoslovakia.
This web page was created to provide further information - the audio version (in Czech) is here, you will find here the Czech/English transcript here, and background information here. If you have any ideas for additions to this site, please contact us.
This web page was created to provide further information - the audio version (in Czech) is here, you will find here the Czech/English transcript here, and background information here. If you have any ideas for additions to this site, please contact us.
"Trinksaifen was home for us" in Leipzig for Gerauschkulisse - 21st of March 2019
The dynamic Gerauschkulisse has invited us to present the documentary in a public event which will take place in Leipzig at the time of the Leipzig Book Fair. All details here. The event was very well organized, we had an audience of more than 30 people of all generations. The discussion afterwards was insightful - both on radio making and on the Czech-German history and current affairs. Migration and home are timeless topics.
Washington D.C. - "Trinksaifen was home for us" as part of the "Hear Now" listening series on June 11th, 2014
Bill Gilcher has chosen "Trinksaifen is Home For Us" documentary as part of the listening evening "The Best of Prix Europa 2013" at the Goethe Institute in Washington D.C. on 11th of June at 8.30 p.m., together with "A Message in a Bottle", an Irish documentary. We are honored and pleased!
Eva connected on Skype with the audience and despite the strange hour (2 a.m.) was happy to answer some excellent questions from an enthusiastic audience. The audience was interested to know more historical details about the region, more about the life of our protagonists as well as about how the documentary was made. Thanks again for the discussion!
We asked Bill about the reasons to select those programs: "I selected two of my favorite programs from Prix Europa 2013 to present for the “Hear Now” series at the Goethe-Institut Washington. (I always present some of my favorite programs from the previous year’s competition.) I am especially sensitive to radio that conveys a strong sense of location - that’s the main reason I chose these two wonderful pieces. Both “Trinksaifen" and “Message in a Bottle” put emphasis on radio’s wonderful ability to capture a sense of place. In the case of “Trinksaifen,” we are treated to some wonderful voices that bring the complex and emotionally laden history of this town to life. It was a delight to the ear." A delight to hear that :-)!
More about the Hear Now series here.
Eva connected on Skype with the audience and despite the strange hour (2 a.m.) was happy to answer some excellent questions from an enthusiastic audience. The audience was interested to know more historical details about the region, more about the life of our protagonists as well as about how the documentary was made. Thanks again for the discussion!
We asked Bill about the reasons to select those programs: "I selected two of my favorite programs from Prix Europa 2013 to present for the “Hear Now” series at the Goethe-Institut Washington. (I always present some of my favorite programs from the previous year’s competition.) I am especially sensitive to radio that conveys a strong sense of location - that’s the main reason I chose these two wonderful pieces. Both “Trinksaifen" and “Message in a Bottle” put emphasis on radio’s wonderful ability to capture a sense of place. In the case of “Trinksaifen,” we are treated to some wonderful voices that bring the complex and emotionally laden history of this town to life. It was a delight to the ear." A delight to hear that :-)!
More about the Hear Now series here.
"Pro Patria Mori" - 7 minute radio play on the topic of World War 1 - available on the EBU website from June 2014
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" is a line from the Roman poet Horace, that can be roughly translated as "It is sweet and fitting to die for your country." Wilfred Owen, an English poet who died in action in the last week of WW1, used it as the last line of his eponymous poem. In our 7 minute radio play, we are superposing Owen's poem with a more contemporary outlook on WW1. The short play, written by Eva Blechová and directed by Ivan Chrz is now available on Vimeo through the EBU website (with English subtitles).
"Back to Europe" - broadcast on Czech radio Vltava on May 14th, 2014
How do people from 27 different countries manage to understand each other? How many interpretors are needed to make a Hungarian politician understood in Czech? And what happens if a Czech girl comes to Brussels, just as the Czech Republic enters the EU in 2004? 10 years after, this sound-rich documentary explores whether the Czech relationship with EU is a "dangerous liaison". Using the story of Lenka, a Czech interpretor, as a metaphor for the pains and pleasures of being part of something bigger.
You can hear the Czech version here. The documentary was broadcast by Czech Radio Vltava on May 14th, 2014. It was created as a collaboration between Tomáš Procházka, composer and sound designer, Eva Nachmilnerová, the producer, Miloš Kott, the sound engineer, and Eva Blechová as the author.
You can hear the Czech version here. The documentary was broadcast by Czech Radio Vltava on May 14th, 2014. It was created as a collaboration between Tomáš Procházka, composer and sound designer, Eva Nachmilnerová, the producer, Miloš Kott, the sound engineer, and Eva Blechová as the author.
New oral history book about "Czech Germans" published by Antikomplex
Three generations of Germans tell their stories about how it feels to be a "Czech German" - oral history at its best. The stories are accompanied by articles dealing with the history, identity and language of the "Czech Germans". Published by Antikomplex and the Association of Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. It is a bilingual edition in German and Czech (Zůstali tu s námi/Bei uns verblieben).
Jihlava documentary festival - "Radiodokument" session on October 26th, 2013
As part of the "Radiodokument" presentations at the International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava, the "Trinksaifen" documentary was listened to and debated with the festival audience. The session was called "Open history" (Otevřené dějiny) and took place on Saturday October 26th in Dukla Edison cinema. It also included the documentary by Tomáš Černý: Jsme s vámi, buďte s námi (2013), dealing with the Russian invasion in 1968 and a new amateur recording featuring Václav Havel.
The Sunday "Radiodokument" session included an inspiring talk by Alan Hall of Falling Tree Productions, with thought and emotion provoking excerpts from BBC 4 Short Cuts as well as a Between the Ears BBC 3 piece called "Slow Movement: Everything, Nothing, Harvey Keitel" from Pejk Malinowski (compulsory for anyone who ever tried to meditate!).
Eva Nachmilnerová with Roman Špála put together a 30 second teaser audio spot for the "Radiodokument" section using our documentary. Here it is!
The Sunday "Radiodokument" session included an inspiring talk by Alan Hall of Falling Tree Productions, with thought and emotion provoking excerpts from BBC 4 Short Cuts as well as a Between the Ears BBC 3 piece called "Slow Movement: Everything, Nothing, Harvey Keitel" from Pejk Malinowski (compulsory for anyone who ever tried to meditate!).
Eva Nachmilnerová with Roman Špála put together a 30 second teaser audio spot for the "Radiodokument" section using our documentary. Here it is!
"Trinksaifen was home for us" at the Prix Europa 2013 competition in Berlin
The documentary "Trinksaifen was home for us" ("V Trinksaifen jsme byly doma") was nominated for Prix Europa, Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. Its juries sample and select the best television-, radio- and online productions of each year. The festival took place in Berlin October 19th - 26th, 2013. An article (in Czech) listing other Czech radio entries to Prix Europa is here.
Our documentary was listened to on Tuesday October 22nd first thing in the morning (we were all still fresh!) and was well received - the jury and listeners liked the presence of the characters, the story development and the use of sounds. You can read some of the comments from the discussion here. It was a great experience of meeting other authors and discussing with them the pieces we were all listening to together.
The winner in the documentary category was a textbook example of good storytelling - "A Message in a Bottle" by Peter Mulryan for Irish RTE Radio 1 - a story of post-war transatlantic friendship, or possibly love? A very different style of documentary came second - beautifully recorded and edited "Soeurs de Camp" by Charlotte Rouault and Benoit Bories for Arte Radio, a story of friendship in a female internment camp in France during WWII. Full Prix Europa results are here.
The winner in the documentary category was a textbook example of good storytelling - "A Message in a Bottle" by Peter Mulryan for Irish RTE Radio 1 - a story of post-war transatlantic friendship, or possibly love? A very different style of documentary came second - beautifully recorded and edited "Soeurs de Camp" by Charlotte Rouault and Benoit Bories for Arte Radio, a story of friendship in a female internment camp in France during WWII. Full Prix Europa results are here.
