Günter Eich Prize laureates Andreas Ammer and FM Einheit with two radio plays at the Leipziger Hörspielsommer 2019
Leipzig, 9 July 2019. Only two weeks ago, on 25 June 2019, the radio play authors Andreas Ammer and FM Einheit received the Günter Eich Prize of Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig. On Wednesday, 10 July 2019, two of their radio plays will be presented at Leipziger Hörspielsommer (Leipzig Radio Play Festival): "Once again, we are delighted that our cooperation with the Hörspielsommer will lead to a joint listening experience of the works of our Günter Eich Prize laureates," explains Stephan Seeger, Managing Director of Media Foundation. The Foundation will again support the Hörspielsommer with a total of 4,000 euros.
The two radio plays "Sie sprechen mit der Stasi" ("You are talking to the Stasi") and "Radio Inferno" by the prize-winning duo will be performed at the Richard-Wagner-Hain in Leipzig (district Zentrum-West) on 10 July from 6 pm. For "Sie sprechen mit der Stasi", written in 2017 for the WDR, Ammer and FM Einheit combed through the still underdeveloped acoustic Stasi archive, in which - among other things - recordings of denunciations, interrogations and attempts of resistance are stored. Andreas Ammer and FM Einheit sensitively assembled the documentary originals together: drums, bass and wind instruments create an atmosphere of permanent threat. "Radio Inferno", produced for BR/HR in 1993, combines texts from Dante's "Divine Comedy" in several languages with sounds made by radio: crackling, hissing, but of course also music and spoken language. "Radio Inferno" was awarded a gold medal at the International Radio Festival New York in 1994 and the Prix Futura in 1995. In addition to the works presented, the artistic work of Andreas Ammer and FM Einheit will also be discussed at the festival. Admission is free - as is the case with all events of the Hörspielsommer.
The Leipziger Hörspielsommer 2019 was opened on 6 July and continues until 14 July. The festival, which was held for the first time in 2003, is one of the most important forums of radio play art in Germany. Its programme is based on three pillars: the radio play programme for children and adults, the organisation of three radio play competitions and a live programme. It is thus the place and interface where established artists, aspiring radio play creators and audiences of all ages meet.
About the prize: The Günter Eich Prize, awarded this year for the sixth time by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig, is aimed at authors who have dedicated an oeuvre of content-related and formal competence to the genre of radio play. It is awarded in alternation with the Axel Eggebrecht Prize for the radio feature. Previous laureates are Alfred Behrens (2007), Eberhard Petschinka (2009), Hubert Wiedfeld (2011), Jürgen Becker (2013), Ror Wolf (2015), Friederike Mayröcker (2017) and Andreas Ammer & FM Einheit (2019).