RTBF’s docu-series Street-Tease (Ma Rue couche-toi là) has won the award for the “best of the best” in the Prix CIRCOM. The announcement was made in a live zoom gathering across Europe on Wednesday 14 October 2020.
Léa Zilber and Marc Dacosse, directors, acknowledged the Grand Prix award on behalf of RTBF, winning 3,000 euros, travel and accommodation to a gala ceremony in Ireland next year (virus controls permitting) and a trophy.
Production was by RTBF and Triangle7. It chooses a street in a town and then finds out who lives there and what stories they have to tell. The winning edition was from Rue de la Paix (Peace Street).
Street-Tease competed with other genre category winners for the Grand Prix. There were almost 200 entries from the public service regional TV stations across Europe. Category winners were announced on 8 October 2020 and Street-Tease won Most Original and Innovative.
The sponsor of the Grand Prix, TVP Poland, was represented by Marek Solon-Lipinski, Deputy Director. The other category sponsors are France TV, SVT Sweden, NRK Norway, TG4 Ireland, RTÉ Ireland, BBC UK, TVR Romania, BNT Bulgaria, RPO Stichting The Netherlands, TVG and TPA Spain, Council of Europe.
In explaining the series for the benefit of the judges, Léa Zilber wrote: “We could actually take a street, any street, as the decor for a film, and we would necessarily find extraordinary human stories in it. Stories that find an echo in us all, that reveal the hidden heroes of our streets. This is how Ma Rue couche-toi là was created: a sort of Russian roulette of life."
“One of our goals creating this format was showing and creating links between people: it was a success! There is quantity, there is quality: another dimension was organising sneak previews in the streets we filmed, in popular spots (sports bar, small neighbourhood cinema...). We invited the whole neighbourhood to watch. Word of mouth worked like a charm as the room was packed each time, reaching people who do not have television at home. These popular cinema moments were extremely heart-warming.”
David Lowen, President of Prix CIRCOM, said: “It is a wonderful programme and was thoroughly enjoyed by our 21 judges round Europe. It was a clear winner.”