French film based on Stravinsky's 'Nightingale' wins Golden Prague Festival

While one important music festival - the Prague Spring - begins on Thursday night, another one - Golden Prague - ended on Wednesday. But Golden Prague, although it has a musical theme, is a very different event. It is an international television festival which specializes in TV programs focused on music. On Wednesday night at the Prague Zofin Palace the festival jury announced the winner of the 42nd year of festival.

The International Television Festival Golden Prague is one of the oldest TV festivals in the world. It started in 1964 originally as a TV festival that was opened to all genres and only recently developed into a festival focused on music programs. The head of the festival's jury Francois Duplat confirms that regarding its music focus Golden Prague is the most important event.

"It is not only the most important; it is the only TV festival that focuses on music. There are other festivals that have a musical section but here you see the most things. Also for me this festival is the most important one. I've been coming here already four years every year."

'The Nightingale'

The main award this year was given to the French film "The Nightingale" made by director Christian Chaudet. The Nightingale is an adaptation of Igor Stravinsky's opera. The story based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale takes place at a Chinese porcelain kiln, and the film transforms a little boy's dream into a post-modern landscape inhabited by China vases and lanterns but also laptops and mobile phones.

"It is incredibly well done. It mixes animation with live actors, it involves many years of work. We all agreed (the jury) that this is the best film we have seen. I think, if you consider the combination of technique, the way of narration and its link to Stravinsky's music, this was the film that had to be the winner."