Has there been a time in recent memory when there was a greater need for religious awareness and understanding? Across the world, for different reasons and in different ways, religion and religious identity are determining how people view their own, but also our place in the world. Traditionally we have depended on our broadcasters to provide us with religiously literate and unbiased coverage of these issues – this is only one of the important roles religious broadcasting plays. For those with faith, religious broadcasting can provide nourishment and a reflection of themselves. For those who don’t believe, good programming about religion can fight prejudice and bigotry and can support cooperation across communities. The entries for this year’s awards competition are a showcase for the excellence of UK creatives producing content that explores belief and ethics. Whether it is through cutting-edge journalism, creative storytelling or societal impact, they prove that the audience for good religiously literate content and in-depth exploration of ethical issues is more diverse and more engaged than ever before.
You can read more about this year’s winners and runners-up below.
Click here to see all the entries shortlisted for a 2024 Award or meet our 2024 Judges here.
Journalism Award: IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
Beyond Creative Ltd. & Renegade Stories for Storyville, BBC 4
An extraordinary film based in the Breslov Hasidic community in Brooklyn, USA and Yavniel, Israel, led by charismatic leader Rabbi Schick, also known as Mohorosh. When Mohorosh died he left two conflicting wills – one leaving leadership of the community and a huge fortune to his son Moishi, and the other benefiting a group of self-selected community leaders. At the same time stories began to emerge of hidden criminality including extortion, violence and sexual abuse of minors. The film’s director Bat-dor Ojalvo spent years earning the trust of people who broke with the community as a result, but also uniquely of others who continue to live according to Mohorosh’s teachings.
Our judges described it as “a gripping tale, narratively engaging with compelling storytelling… I couldn’t stop watching”.
Radio/Audio Award: THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF HOPE – WARTIME CHRISTMAS IN UKRAINE
Sunday Worship, BBC Religion & Ethics for BBC Radio 4
Sunday Worship from Ukraine is led by Nadiyka Gerbish, a Ukrainian writer, podcaster, and Riggins Rights Management European rights director. In this moving programme, Nadiyka captures the intricate spirit of the Ukrainian Christmas in the wartime. Writing about the programme she said “Our good cheer and Christmas merriness do not stem from the sweetness of the season, meaningful traditions, mesmerising music, and delicious food. Instead, it is rooted in the feeling of home, community, liberty, and fighting on the side of justice. Our Christmas this year is full of sadness, but defiance, too. The enemy will not change us from within and will not steal our joy.”
Our judges said: “This entry examined where is hope, God and light in times of war and did not shy away from the terrible suffering or from asking the fundamental questions” and “It’s a programme I remember in my head and in my heart”.
Radio Times Readers’ Award: The Holyland and Us – Our Untold Stories
Wall to Wall Media for BBC Two
This highly topical and profoundly moving two-part series follows the actor and writer Sarah Agha and the barrister, author and broadcaster Rob Rinder, MBE, along with four families of Jewish and Palestinian heritage, as they explore how their families’ histories were impacted by the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
Sarah Agha says: “My Palestinian father was just two years old when his family was displaced from their village near Tiberias in Galilee in 1948. I was always told they were forced to leave, but I know little about the exact circumstances in which they left, so I want to follow in their footsteps and uncover what happened. My father also told me that our Palestinian ancestors used to have a lot of land and influence in the nineteenth century. I want to find out how in less than a century they went from power-brokers to refugees.”
Rob Rinder says: “I am from a Jewish family and for me, the State of Israel was a sanctuary, at the heart of the yearning of the few Jewish prayers I knew, which begins with ‘Hear O Israel’. It was a place where Jewish people from all over the world could go to finally feel safe. Tracing the journey of my grandfather’s cousin, Moshe Malinieski, I want to understand why he risked so much to reach this land and why he made this choice. Israel offered a refuge to Jews across the world but the land remains a place of enduring conflict, and the key to understanding where we are today is to hear the stories from that time, from both sides.”
2024 Runners Up
TV/Video: Witness – A Child of Gaza
Alef Multimedia for Al Jazeera English
In Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, when an Israeli air strike hits the house next door to where nine-year old Elaf and her family once lived, the family relocates to a refugee camp. When their dreams of a truce turn into reality, Elaf returns home to discover what remains of her childhood treasures and the fate of her friends. But as the truce ends and the bombardment restarts, Elaf and her family are forced to relocate once again.
Our judges were profoundly moved by this film and struck by how faith imbues the lives of Elaf and her family.
Journalism: Heart and Soul: The emerging Muslim manosphere
Heart and Soul, BBC World Service
In Britain, the growth of Islam is being driven by generation of young people, born and brought up in the UK. The BBC reporter Rahil Sheik is one of them. In this programme he explores how many of his cohort are turning to social media to forge online safe spaces where they can connect, celebrate and discuss their faith. But in recent years, Rahil has noticed that some of the male Muslim influencers popular online have been using Islam to advocate alpha masculinity as a way of combating liberalism and feminism.
Our judges said this investigation was both a fascinating and an alarming insight into the effects of internet influencers on younger members of their community.
Radio/Audio: The Right Thing: Follow God, not the people
In this programme Uganda’s most prominent LGBTQ+ campaigner, Frank Mugisha, tells BBC reporter Mike Wooldridge, his story of fear, faith, and standing up for what he believes in. Under Uganda’s draconian anti-LGBT laws, gay sex can result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Brought up in a devout Catholic family in the suburbs of Kampala, Frank knew he was gay, although in those days he had no words for it. When all his prayers for God to “make him like his friends” went unanswered, he gradually came out to family and close friends and later started an organisation to help other LGBTQ people. But the atmosphere in Uganda has been hostile and after a newspaper published the names of 100 gay people, Frank’s friend and fellow activist, David Kato, was bludgeoned to death in 2011.
Broadcast against a backdrop of Uganda’s anti-homosexuality laws being challenged in the courts, our judges praised what they felt was a compelling, important and timely interview.
Young Audience: Climate Anxiety
The climate crisis is having a deep impact on the world around us, how we live our lives and how we feel. With a global increase in web searches of the term ‘climate anxiety’ (up by 4,590% from 2018-2023) this film is a timely exploration of the emotional effect of climate change through one individual’s remarkable true story. Joycelyn Longdon (Climate in Colour) takes the audience with her on a journey that unites social action and climate activism. En route she sheds light on the urgent need for change but also challenges us to deepen our understanding of the intricate relationship between the environment and our own well-being.
Anxiety featured in a number of our Young Audience entries this year. Our judges were buoyed by this film and its message of empowerment.
