We have all seen a rise in foreigners coming to live in Wrocław, so at some point, something needs to be said about it. Various initiatives like Wrocław Expats page, ( W.E. Facebook group), Wrocław Uncut, Tower of Babel etc… have provided a forum to share news, views ask questions and meet new people. Another such initiative was undertaken by Englishman and long-time Wrocław resident, Terry Clark-Ward. Back in 2015, while contracted to work as a voice-over actor for ATM Grupa (television and media production company) he came up with the idea of creating an ‘edutainment’ talk-show about foreigners living in Wrocław – those who he felt stood out because of the fact that they had carved out a unique life for themselves here and no doubt had a lot to say about their experiences. We don’t how he did it exactly as I’m sure we’d all like to have a talk show on national TV, but whatever the story was, he did.
The first season which is all on youtube was focused almost entirely on people in Wrocław. By the looks of it he chose some of his friends and acquaintances, but also more notable figures such as Bente Kahan, a leader of the Jewish community who was made an honorary citizen of Wrocław last year.
The format of the show is to introduce a location in Wrocław, look at clues the guest has left, interview them, walk and talk around a part of the city the guest likes, challenge the guest to do something (from demonstrating a skill to absurdity) and summing it all up with a final thought. At the very end, you’ll see some of the outtakes which are pretty funny sometimes. This seems to be a bit of a mix of ‘through the keyhole’ ‘Jerry Springer’ and ‘Parkinson’. It seems to start quite seriously and then strays into a more light-hearted mood with a bit of humour thrown in.
This season, he’s gone further afield to meet foreigners living all over the country with a variety of professions including: doctor, farmer, concert pianist, dentist, tattoo artist, brewer, tap-dancer and bookshop owner. It’s a simple idea really and simple ideas are easy to copy – which is a good thing as this idea of interviewing foreigners is beginning to take off on youtube as well as Radio Wrocław.
You can watch 5 o’Clark season II, every Sunday morning at 8.30 a.m. on nationwide TV channel ATM Rozrywka. Worth having a watch if you like this kind of thing and if you can get up that early.
