The Sound Documentary International Summer Programme

The second edition of the programme was launched on July 11th 2022 and lasted 6 weeks. It welcomed 12 young professionals from all the world (Asia, Middle East, the Gulf, South America, Europe).

The candidates are young foreign audiovisual professionals, with experience as an author (blog, podcast or creative project involving sound). The laureates are selected by a jury of French professionals in connection with the cultural services of the French embassies. During 6 weeks of intensive training, the attendees, all laureates of a scholarship from the French embassies, dive into the radio ecosystem in France, a pioneer in the radio documentary genre. They learn the fundamentals of writing and recording a radio documentary, supervised by a documentary maker / soundscape artist and a sound engineer. They try out different sound-writing processes, they learn about the techniques of interviewing, capturing atmospheres, soundscape, stereophonic sound recording and audio editing. They learn how to present a project to the concerned audiences (radios, etc.).

The programme is structured around 3 components:

• Theoretical and practical training in sound writing (from design to editing)
• Production of a sound documentary in pairs (each pair will conceive and carry out its project from A to Z during the workshop)
• Discovery of the French radio / podcast creation ecosystem (listening sessions, meetings with French authors and professionals in the sector, visits to key structures such as Radio France, etc.).

The programme also includes meetings and professional visits with key players in the sector: RFI, Radio France, Arte Radio, Festival Longueur d’onde, SCAM, French Institute.

The educational part of the programme is created and led by Frédérique Pressmann. She is a documentary filmmaker and sound artist, born in Paris in 1966. She started her career in New York in the late 80s in print journalism, before working mainly for the French public radio (France Culture, Arte Radio). Some of her documentaries have earned national awards. Since 2009, she has taught documentary practice in schools and universities in France. She is the author of three feature-length documentary films.

The coordination of the programme is ensured by Stéphanie Launay, animated film producer, former audiovisual and Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy in Algeria and Resident Twinning Advisor in Morocco, for the French Ministry of Culture.

On December 13th 2022, a special evening organized by ADDOR – Association for the development of radio documentaries and sound creation – will present the 2022 productions of the programme.