‘Åke Blomström, Head of Features of Sveriges Radio, was born in December 1931 and died abruptly (age 54 years) on 31 May 1985 (kidney failure). As a man of reputation in SR (Swedish Press: ‘Radio Personality of the Year’) as well as internationally respected and loved he got a great funeral ceremony. At the end of the ceremony and still on the graveyard the SR Director of Radio and I agreed to establish an Åke Blomström Memorial Prize.’

The PRIX EUROPA 2022 Åke Blomström Masterclass is a two day training event for Europe’s audio talent by Europe’s best radio documentary makers. Out of over 50 applications for a scholarship 16 lucky students have been chosen by a selection committee to participate. The Masterclass will be delivered at the start of this year’s PRIX EUROPA (22 & 23 October 2022) in Potsdam. During the two day Masterclass the invited participants will have the unique opportunity to learn from the best radio documentary makers in Europe, to glean their secrets and get their advice.

Get to know the 4 experts who lead the PRIX EUROPA 2022 Åke Blomström Masterclass:

‘Knowing that I could be a master is hardly making its way into my mind.  I associate being a master with excellence and great responsibility.  And I?  I am still learning and I am still amazed at the world. I approach each story as if it was my first with curiosity and humility. One thing I know for sure is that the reality that surrounds us is infinitely rich, complicated, ambiguous, even contradictory.  There is no point in organising it, but you can tell people about it in an orderly manner. And this is what I will try to convey.’

“Like reading, with sound. Like film, without pictures. I am looking forward to discuss with a new generation of feature documentary makers the usual alchemy of audio and radio. You control the narrative – not the other way around. The important, empowering thing to realize, as you structure and edit a piece, is that you are the director.”

“In my role as master of the Masterclass I will talk about last year’s Prix Europe-winning documentary series, break it down and go through the process from idea to realization. I will show the obstacles, risks and opportunities of investigative storytelling and reveal why an investigative news reporter needs to rethink completely when creating a documentary.”

“We will sail into ‘The Upsidedown’, PRIX EUROPA winning 2018, diving into sounds and words without being afraid of the silence. We'll try to figure out how to find the right people for our stories and explore a particular way of production that brought listeners a universal story.”