Triple gold for deMensen

04/04/2015

The production house deMENSEN won three gold medals at the prestigious WorldMediaFestival in Hamburg with its programmes De Blacklist, Wauters vs Waes and Reizen Waes. The three programmes all featured the presenter Tom Waes. Each year the prestigious WorldMediaFestival takes place in Hamburg and recognises the best international productions from all areas of the media. In total more than 700 productions were entered from around the globe.

De Blacklist (The Blacklist) took gold in the category 'Children/Youth Special Entertainment', Wauters vs Waes (The Dare) won in the category 'Other Entertainement' and Reizen Waes (Difficult Destinations) wons the 'Travel Documentaries' prize.

In the children's programme ‘De Blacklist’ Tom Waes attempts to make 6 ‘impossible’ childhood dreams come true. In the nominated episode Tom prepares 12 year-old Alexander for a genuine 4x4 off-road competition. Ultimately Alexander drives himself in his off-road vehicle through the dangerous and muddy course.

In ‘Wauters vs. Waes’ two well-known names in television, Tom Waes and Koen Wauters, take each other on in 10 different challenges which viewers themselves were able to put forward. The programme was the result of a partnership between the TV channels Eén and VTM, and was broadcast on both channels, attaining top audience ratings. The nominated episode was called the red button or ‘De Rode Knop’. In this episode Tom and Koen undergo a psychological test. They are locked up together in a small space and are instructed to be the quickest to press a button as soon as the lamp comes on. It is an exhausting mental battle which, in the end, is won by Koen Wauters.

Finally, in the adventurous travel programme ‘Reizen Waes’, the television presenter Tom Waes heads off to eight unusual holiday destinations, which he puts to the test as possible tourist attractions. In the nominated episode Tom goes off to Turkmenistan, one of the most isolated countries in the world. Although Tom had permission to make a travel documentary he soon comes up against a totalitarian system that gives him no freedom whatsoever. This leads to a disconcerting, sometimes quite absurd picture.

This is not the first time that deMENSEN has won prizes at the WorldMediaFestival. In 2010 the three-part documentary ‘Low Impact Man’ won gold in the category ‘Reality’ and the programme was also selected as the best entertainment programme of the entire festival. In the same year ‘Tomtesterom’ (How to) and ‘Mag ik u kussen?’ (May I kiss you?) both won silver, in the categories 'Reality' and 'Situation Comedy' respectively.