GOLDEN LINK AWARD 2006

"EXIT, le droit de mourir (the right to die)"
A documentary film by Fernand Melgar
coproduced by TSR, TSI, Arte, TV2DK, YLE, with the support of the OFC

La Rochelle/ Marseilles, 26 June 2006: "EXIT, le droit de mourir (the right to die)" has won the 5th EBU Golden Link Award, announced Jean Réveillon, Secretary General of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), on Monday night during the TV festival, Sunny Side of the Doc, in La Rochelle.

As the leading coproduction partner, the Swiss French-speaking channel TSR, represented by Gaspard Lamunière and Irène Challand, was awarded a sculpture in bronze by M.C. Escher. 

"EXIT, le droit de mourir” was co-produced by five European Public Broadcasters members of the EBU: TSR and TSI (Switzerland), Arte (France – Germany), TV2 (Denmark), and YLE (Finland). It has already received numerous documentary awards in Festivals (Visions du Réel, Etats Généraux du documentaire, FIPA…).

This documentary shows how volunteers accompany sick and handicapped people towards a death of their choice that seems more dignified to them. Switzerland is the only country in the world where associations such as EXIT quite legally provide suicide assistance to people at the end of their lives. In a society tending to control everything, they refer us back to this quintessential, intimate question: Is choosing our death not our ultimate freedom?

This year's jury members for the GLA are Wolfgang Homering (Germany, Senior Editor Culture and Science / ZDF), Yves Jeanneau (France, Commissaire Général Sunny Side of the Doc), Anne Lapping (UK, Director of Brook Lapping Productions Limited), Filip Remunda (Czech Republic, Filmmaker), and Jean Réveillon (EBU Secretary General, chairman).

The other shortlisted films this year were: “The Lost Gods”, presented by S4C; “The Last Supper”, presented by SVT; “In search of Mozart”, presented by Avro; “Congo River”, presented by RTBF; and “Bird Flu”, presented by TVR.

The EBU Golden Link Award was created five years ago for the best documentary developed through the two annual EBU Documentary Group meetings and coproduced by two or more EBU members.

Previous winners were “Heysel” (SVT/2005), “The Road to Europe” (DR/2004), “Chavez, Inside the Coup” (RTE/2003), “Steps for the Future” (YLE/2002).

The Geneva-based EBU is the largest professional association of national broadcasters in the world. It operates the Eurovision and Euroradio networks and provides a full range of operational, commercial, technical, legal and strategic services to 74 active Members in 54 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and 44 associate Members in 25 countries around the world.

For more information:
Pierre Duret, project manager, +41 79 217 09 33, duret@ebu.ch
Aline Ingwersen, media officer, +41 79 774 86 44, ingwersen@ebu.ch

ah / ep