大象传媒

On a summer's day in 1974, Norwegian actor Knut Risan steps up to the mic for a voiceover job. It's for a Cinderella movie that's just been acquired by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, from the country known at the time as Czechoslovakia.

NRK want him to dub the film into Norwegian. Knut's just having fun. He's doing all the voices, even the young Cinderella. But he's about to become Norway's "Voice of Christmas" when NRK decides to put the film out as part of its festive line up.

T艡i o艡铆拧ky pro Popelku or, as it's often translated, Three (Hazel)nuts for Cinderella, remains an essential part of many Europeans' seasonal viewing to this day. Not least in Norway, where it is shown at 11am on Christmas Eve every year.

Knut's son, Olav, used to feel a little embarrassed around this time of year - everyone knew he was the son of the most famous voice on TV. He'd get strange looks in supermarkets. But today, and in this episode of Sideways, he reflects on the special place his father's voice occupies in Norway's Christmas and in his own family.

Through the story of a film that straddles the line between fairy tale fun and the realities of the Iron Curtain, Matthew Syed explores the origins, meaning and persistence of this cross-cultural tradition and celebrates the role of Christmas films in many families' celebrations, including his own.

Featuring musician Olav Risan and author Kathrin Miebach of the Drei Haseln眉sse f眉r Aschenbr枚del website. With fairy tale expert Professor Claudia Schwabe of Utah State University and Michal Bregant, Director of N谩rodn铆ho Filmov茅ho Archivu.

Including clips from T艡i o艡铆拧ky pro Popelku (Czech language version) and Tre n酶tter til Askepott (Norwegian language version, featuring the voice of Knut Risan).
T艡i o艡铆拧ky pro Popelku directed by V谩clav Vorl铆cek and starring Libuse Safr谩nkov谩 and Pavel Tr谩vn铆cek. Written by Bo啪ena N臎mcov谩 (story) and Franti拧ek Pavl铆膷ek (screenplay), produced by Ji艡铆 Krej膷铆k and with a score by Karel Svoboda. Distributed by 脷st艡edn铆 p暖j膷ovna film暖.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Amalie Sortland
Series editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound design and mix: Naomi Clarke
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for 大象传媒 Radio 4