Turku to Participate in Prix Europa Awards Ceremony in Berlin

European Capital of Culture Turku will be taking part in the Prix Europa awards gala arranged next Saturday in Berlin. Prix Europa is Europe’s largest competition for television and radio productions.

European Capital of Culture Turku will be greeting the gala with a video message, and Finnish a cappella group Club for Five will perform as the house band throughout the 2.5-hour ceremony. The group will be revealing a hint for each winning production through its music. Club For Five has also performed as part of the Capital of Culture year programme in Turku.

Prix Europa was first held in Amsterdam in 1987, and after circulating in different parts of Europe, has been permanently hosted by Berlin since 1997. This year, the festival received applications from 640 programmes in 36 different countries of which 237 programmes were selected for the competition. Ten Finnish productions are participating in the television, radio and online categories.

To mark its 25th anniversary, Prix Europa will be particularly showcasing the Nordic countries, which have played a major role in the history of the competition. The Nordic countries have received a total of 54 Prix Europa awards.

European Capital of Culture Turku will be participating as part of celebrations centring on the Nordic countries. In addition to the gala on Saturday, Turku 2011 will be attending a Nordic evening on 28 October in Berlin’s Felleshus, joint building of five Nordic embassies. A number of awarded films will be shown at the event, including the Finnish Hardly a Butterfly, which received the television award in 1998.