Czech Television program about Roma children nominated for EU's Civis Media Prize

The “Ptáčata” television serial, which won the Gypsy Spirit 2010 award as Action of the Year, has also scored points in the EU’s competition for radio and television programming for integration, the Civis Media Prize. The unique documentary serial produced by Czech Television, which was also the country’s first “docu-soap”, tells the stories of children living on the outskirts of society – both happy and sad stories, and above all, authentic ones.

The 13th episode, called “Letem ghettem” (“My Ghetto, My World”) captivated the jury in the main category. Czech Television will be competing for a prize for the first time ever in the 20-year history of this competition, which is primarily dominated by West European television. The jury labeled the series as quite engrossing, exemplary, important and moving. Prizes in various categories will be announced by German President Christian Wulf and EP Preisdent Jerzy Buzek and broadcast by ARD/Das Erste on 26 May.

The 16-part series “Ptáčata aneb Nejsme žádná béčka” (“Nestlings”) was broadcast by Czech Television last fall. On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2010, it was awarded the Gypsy Spirit 2010 prize in the category Action of the Year. The prize is awarded by the Human Rights Section of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic as part of its 2010 Anti-racism Campaign.

Using non-traditional methods, the public television serial presents children who have personally experienced racism at an early age. It is an exceptional, first-ever Central European example of the genre called “docu-soap”, a documentary series showing the world through the eyes of eight-year-old children.

The first impulse for the show was a petition circulated by non-Roma parents refusing to enroll their children into the same classes as Roma children. The filmmakers decided to film a documentary series about children relegated to the fringes of society by prejudice. The children themselves used small video cameras to become co-creators of the report about their life, giving members of the majority society the opportunity to “see” the world through the children’s eyes. The recordings produced both dramatic and humorous moments.

Series creators Kamila Zlatušková and Ladislav Cmíral are continuing the series. Viewers will have the opportunity to meet the young protagonists again over the course of the next few years and to learn more about their fate. More information (in Czech only) about the series, including episodes that have already been broadcast, can be found at www.ptacata.cz