The 2009 Edition of the Award Ceremony for “Media Prize for Cultural Heritage.” took place on June 14th, in the Bánffy Castle’s courtyard. The prize is awarded annually by Transylvania Trust to those journalists who have made an important contribution disseminating the information on the built heritage of Romania. The event was organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage.

The judges of the competition this year were – Tofan Zsolt / image director HBO Romania, Tofan Koos Imola / editor Duna TV, Demostene Sofron / “Faclia” newspaper editor. Following consultations, the prize has been awarded to Mr. Janos Balazs (Romanian Television Editor, Hungarian transmission) and Mr. Gyorgy Arus Berszan (Cameraman for Romanian Television, Hungarian transmission) for all their work dedicated to architectural monuments from the Transylvanian space.

According to evaluations, the jury believes that the editorial work of Mr. Balazs Janos fully reflects the requirements of the contest ‘Regulation’ for this year – “raising awareness and civic conscience on the importance of protecting the built heritage, stimulating a proactive civic attitude concerning its conservation and also its recognition as a factor of educational, cultural, social and economic development.”

The materials published by Janos Balazs in various publications in the country, documentaries broadcasted nationally and/or internationally reflect the proposed theme. The theme ” Transylvanian Old Churches ” was approached with the accuracy of the specialist in the field. The accuracy and the special language are, of course, the result of the documentation in the field of history, archaeology, anthropology and sociology. Therefore, we can talk about historian Janos Balazs, the archeologist, ethnologist, sociologist or anthropologist Janos Balazs. The prize rewards the steadiness of the orientation towards the built heritage, the allegation is held forth by the materials published under the generous title of “Erdely regi templomai/ Transylvanian Old Churches”. The published material is covering vast areas of investigation and I will provide just three examples out of the many topics covered: old churches of the Mures, Harghita and Hunedoara County.

Berszan Arus Gyorgy is the cameraman whose experience in the area is fully shown. The images are evocative and speak for themselves, they are acquainting and familiarizing you with ancient monuments of architecture in a professional manner, they are urging you to visit them, to get to see them at first hand.

On the occasion of the event, Mr. Demostene Sofron – jury member, was distinguished with an honorary award for his sustained activity in guiding the public opinion and promoting built heritage conservation.

The award was presented by Mr. Petre Guran – Councellor of the Minister of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage. Also participating at the event were: Péter Eckstein Kovács – Presidential Adviser for Minorities, David Baxter -Presidential Adviser for Built Heritage, Vasile Baciu – Mayor of Bonţida, László Attila – UDMR President, Cluj branch, as well as journalists and a numerous public.

This project is financed by the Governments of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Diploma