Silverdocs - On the Radio

The folks who produce Silverdocs, the AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland took a chance on something unusual this year and invited a radio festival to take part in the festivities.
(Gwen Macsai and Johanna Zorn of Third Coast)
The Third Coast International Audio Festival originates in Chicago, and brings together the country's most innovative and talented radio producers to talk shop and listen to each other's work each fall. With inspiration from Chicago producers like Ira Glass, host of This American Life, the festival has thrived and will be presenting its sixth edition in November.

At Silverdocs, festival co-director Johanna Zorn was joined by public radio host and producer Gwen Macsai for a listening session attended by about 50 people. Work from Third Coast's archives was played, including And I Walked, a compelling and unusual look at immigration across the Sonoran desert, and 'Til Death Do Us Part, a multi-layered audio home movie.

The idea was to present radio--with a focus on complex storytelling and craft--in a setting that is usually reserved for watching movies.

The producers of And I Walked, Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler have both gone on to create an impressive body of work in their early careers, helping reinforce Third Coast's reputation as a builder and nurturer of talent.

To this listener, the pleasure of listening to the radio features would have been enhanced by contact with the writers and producers of the work, but the format instead presented a survey of material associated with the festival. The listeners seemed please to hear something so familiar in a new setting, and Third Coast has plans to take the show on the road to film festivals and other venues as it evangelizes for radio art.