UN RADIO PROGRAMME WINS AWARD IN 1999 NEW YORK FESTIVALS

1 July 1999

Press Release
PI/1155

UN RADIO PROGRAMME WINS AWARD IN 1999 NEW YORK FESTIVALS

19990701 United Nations Radio has been awarded a bronze medal for one of its entries in the 1999 New York Festivals competitions (International Radio Programming). The radio programme "UNESCO Funds Documentary on Links between Calypso and High Life Music", was produced originally in the UN Radio series "Caribbean Echo".

The programme, first broadcast in November 1998, tells the story of two artists who trace the cultural links between the African and American continents almost 200 years after the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. It focuses on an exchange of visits between calypsonian Lancelot Layne of Trinidad and Tobago and high life musician Koo Nimo of Ghana. The programme features the music of the two cultures.

The theme was originally conceptualized in a video production entitled "Crossing Over", which was funded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and co-produced by Trinidadian producer Christopher Laird of Banyan Productions and Nil Bampoe of the National Film and Television Institute of Ghana.

The New York Festivals award is the second received by United Nations Radio for its international programming. A silver medal was awarded last year for a special four-part series produced in 1997 on "The Child Sex Trade".

The New York Festivals was founded in 1957 as an international awards competition primarily designed to reward outstanding achievements in non- broadcasting media. It has since expanded to include other international competitions, such as television advertising and programming, international radio programming and promotion, and international interactive multimedia. The number of entries for the various competitions has grown from 1,000 entries in 1979 to more than 16,000 entries in all media in 1998.

For further information on United Nations Radio programmes, visit the United Nations Web site address: www.un.org/av; or contact Audio-Visual Promotion and Distribution: Room S-805A, New York, NY 10017; tel. (212) 963-6982/1807; fax (212) 963-6869.

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