Television Archive Award
2001 shortlist

Francesc Escribano,
TVC, Spain

"Loving" is an episode from the documentary series "Private Lives". - "Private Lives" offers an intimate look at the changes that have affected people's everyday lives in the 20th century. Through personal anecdotes, different generations chronicle the events which have had an impact on the way we live.

Each episode focuses on a particular universal life experience, for example, birth, death, work, having fun and in this case "loving". The series shows the way customs and habits have changed by contrasting the lives and perceptions of different generations.

It is history as reflected in the lives of ordinary people, rather than through major political and social events.

Extensive research unearthed unique archive footage to illustrate the programs. In this episode, footage was taken from both Spanish and foreign archives, private amateur collections, commercial films, news reports in addition to the protagonists' personal photographs and videos. The evocative use of the archive footage helps bring the past to life.

LOVING (ESTIMAR)

Until not too long ago, marriages were often arranged by families for social or economic reasons, especially in rural areas. Seeing young lovers kiss openly in the streets was unheard of. And who could have imagined the possibility of computer matchmaking? Society has undergone a profound transformation over the last century and marriages of convenience have made way for a variety of alternatives, including marriages between homosexuals. The feeling of love may or may not have changed, but the ways in which it is expressed certainly have. Today relationships are no longer bound by the constraints of social convention. In this program, several people open their hearts to our cameras and talk openly about their personal experiences in love. It is a search for an answer to the time-old question posed by poets and philosophers, "What is love?"

Rosel Hauptmann
Réalisateur
Swedish Broadcasting Company

This programme for children tells about the first decade of the last century.

It consists of two parts. The first is a fictive story , the second an information part.

The fictive story
The fictive story is about the friendship between two young boys. One of them, Erling, has rickets and therefore can't walk very well. Erling dreams about being an explorer and to meet the king of Sweden. His friend promises him to make the journey for him , to meet the king and then tell Erling all about it. And so the story begins. The boy goes by train to Stockholm from Skåne in the south of Sweden and back to Erling again just as he has promised.

The information part
The second part of the programme gives a wider view of and more facts about the first decade of 1900.

(In this international version of the programme there is a young English male speaker, whereas in the original Swedish version the author reads/tells the fiction story part and a female speaker reads the information part.)

The series The century of the Child
" When I met King Oscar II" is the first programme in a historical series called The Century of the Child.
There are ten programmes - one for each decade of 1900. Every programme consists only of archive material, the aim being to give an idea about conditions and life in town and in the countryside during each decade, especially for children.

Stefan Dimitriu
Romanian Television

Why so much bloodshed in the Romanian Revolution of December 1989? Who were the terrorists? Who was hiding behind them? Who organized the manipulation of truth through Radio and Television? How were the dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu caught and executed? Who is to be blamed for the sham of a trial against those two? What was the role of the Secret Services during those bloody events?

Revealing such mysteries and others alike represents a huge challenge for all seekers of truth. This was the fundamental idea which led to the creation of this documentary film.

On the 21st of December 1989, in Bucharest, the most aggressive dictatorship in Eastern Europe was dealt its final crushing blow. The meeting called by Ceausescu to sustain the criminal repression of peaceful demonstrations in Timisoara was the starting point of a great popular revolt; it was a popular revolt which quickly became a bloody revolution. After one night of violent confrontation there were many casualties.The dead ran into double figures. Hundreds were wounded. The building of the Communist Party's Central Committee - which had seemed impregnable for more then 45 years - was taken by assault. Trying to flee for their lives, Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu took off by helicopter from the very roof of the building. ...This was the first triumphant moment of the crowds.

During the five days before the Ceausescus were sentenced to death and executed in a military unit in Targoviste, by a Revolutionary Court of Law, viewers from around the world were able to watch with bated breath a harsh and merciless war. The enemy was invisible, yet present everywhere He left behind only destruction and death...

This way, the paranoic regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, this character who resembled both Nero and Dracula, left the stage with the same cruelty and perfidiousness which had enabled him to hang on to power for over a quarter of a century. The Secret Services, with their unbeaten reputation for ruthnessless and wickedness, were displaying their masterful expertise of being publicly on the side of revolution, but secretly working to undermine it. It is here that the source of general confusion lies, and it is from this that countless numbers of scenarios have arisen. One more trick and illusion, one more act of ingenuity, and finally one more criminal. All this put forward by those whose true vocation rests upon the alteration of the truth. The result; over a 1000 deaths and over 5000 injured.

In most cases, these alterations were, intentional or not, accomplished by the people in charge of broadcasting live transmissions. These were the people called to hide the silent struggle for power being performed backstage. In this way, monumental aberrations reached maximum credibility, in the same manner in which obvious truths were thrown into ridiculousness, and discredited. Although it was a live transmission, the Romanian Revolution was very far from revealing all its mysteries. The best kept secret of all, the one that is most thrilling, concerns the identity of the terrorists.

Researching through huge amounts of archival footage preserved by Romanian Television, most of it having its first public exposure, the producer of this program, Mr. Stefan Dimitriu, a well-known Romanian writer and television professional has managed to recreate the events and put them in a new light. Mysteries that seemed unsolvable for over a decade are now ready to be cleared up. Puzzling complicities and guilt now dazzle the viewer.

In this way, 'Exercises of Freedom' represents, on the one hand, the performances of those millions on the streets, facing with their bear hands the smashing bullets, paying the ultimate price for their bravery. On the other hand, those exercises of freedom belong - though bitterly ironic - to the great masters of combinations and to the profiteers, to those rushing to fake democracy and to place themselves -through any means possible - on the front seats of power.

Mastering the techniques of suspense and exciting story-telling, the documentary film 'Exercises of Freedom' brings to the foreground both scenes of real drama and the absolute grotesque, all very common, when such blind forces are involved. 'Exercises of Freedom' is not only an excellent TV program but also full of the lessons of contemporary history. The Romanian Revolution from December 1989 was not only a capital event for Romanians, but also a major one in the history of the collapse of communism in this part of the world.