Foto: University of Pittsburgh
Erin Anderson is a writer, audio producer, and documentary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). She is co-creator and producer of Cement City, named one of The New York Times top ten “Best Podcasts of 2024,” and an ASME National Magazine Award Finalist. She teaches narrative audio and nonfiction in the Writing Program and the Film and Media Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Podcast: Cement City
Franziska Sophie Dorau, Austria
Franziska Sophie Dorau, born in Vienna, is an author and director of audio-documentaries. After studying Comparative Literature in Vienna and Paris, she started to work as a radio journalist for the Austrian national broadcast´s cultural and informational channel Ö1. She focuses primarily on socio-political issues, as well as portraits of authors and artists. Her documentaries have been nominated for numerous international awards. Among others, she has received the Prix Europa (2012), the CIVIS Media Award (2020), and the Premio Ondas (2024). In 2024, she was awarded the Axel Eggebrecht Award by the Leipzig Media Foundation for her complete body of work. She recently worked as a dramaturgical consultant for the Berlin based film production company “Komplizen Film”. She lives in Berlin.
Documentary: We Are at War. The Rehearsal Is Cancelled.
Kyiv´s Symphony Orchestra in Search of a Second
Foto: Adrijan Pregelj
Saška Rakef is a playwright and directress. She is interested in the influence of emancipated musical composition on the method and aesthetics of directing. She researches sensorial language, a physical experience invoked by sound including the sonority of words, the staging methods translating the principles of musical composition into directing and dramaturgy procedures, and the writing processes of contemporary text for radio and theatre. An important part of her creativity is content for babies and infants. She was a project leader of the B-AIR project consortium, exploring how people and the surrounding world conceptualize and experience sound; connecting artistic, scientific and journalistic methods of research and creation. She works as a radio director at Radio Slovenia. She teaches radio play and radio directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, Ljubljana.
Documentary: Journey at The Edge of The Night
Xavier Yvon is an experienced journalist and audio editor with a career spanning major French newsrooms. He currently leads the Reportages Department at France Inter, overseeing national and international coverage. Previously, he served as Editor‑in‑Chief for Podcasts at L’Express, where he created and hosted La Loupe, a daily deep‑dive news podcast. From 2016 to 2020, he was Europe 1’s US Correspondent in New York. His original audio work includes acclaimed series such as Taylor Swift, le monde, ma fille et moi and Les Petites Voix. He has been recognized with major awards including the Prix Europa Special Jury Mention, the Prix Varenne, and the Bayeux War Correspondents Prize.
Podcast: Taylor Swift, the World, My Daughter and I