Berlusconi tries to censor film about his influence on Italian media
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The film 'Videocracy' takes a critical look at the foibles of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
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Silvio Berlusconi is accustomed to allegations about his predilections being excitedly received abroad. France's Nouvel Observateur recently published a story titled "Sex, Power and Lies" and the Spanish newspaper El Pais showed photographs of naked guests at the Italian Prime Minister's retreat in Sardinia. (He announced his intention to sue both for libel.)
Back home, though, the priapic 72-year-old’s influence over the media is such that the slew of claims over his private life usually receives a muted reception – perhaps because they come as little surprise.
So when Italy’s state television channel refused to show a film trailer which blamed Berlusconi for creating a frivolous media culture filled with “half-naked women” and chauvinistic images (he owns three commercial Italian TV channels), the movie’s director interpreted it as straight censorship.
But the ban by the network RAI on screening the clip for Videocracy – showing today at the Venice Film Festival – has backfired and led to a surprising uptake in interest in the documentary.
Videocracy is among the most contentious films to be shown at the two-week event. RAI wrote to the director, Erik Gandini, stating that the film was “offensive” to Berlusconi’s reputation.
The advert showed scantily-attired women and statistics claiming that Italy had a low press freedom rating. Mr Berlusconi’s company, Mediaset, which runs Italy’s private TV stations, also declined to screen the trailer.
Since then, requests from cinemas in Italy to obtain a print of the film have shot up from 35 to 70 venues, leading to many hundreds more screenings.
“The ban indicated the level of tension in Italy regarding everything that goes on TV,” Gandini said in an interview with The Independent yesterday. “He [Berlusconi] runs three commercial channels in the country. In Italy, what does not exist on TV does not exist.”
“I was scared by the ban, and by RAI’s Orwellian-style letter, but the day after, there was a huge explosion of interest on the internet. The print numbers have doubled and people were spreading the trailer through Facebook.”
Gandini, who made the documentary Gitmo – The New Rules of War, about Guantanamo Bay, interviewed staff who worked on Berlusconi’s channels and filmed near his Sardinia summer resort.
“For the last 30 years, Italy has been subjected very strongly to Berlusconi TV, which has a lot of semi-naked women and triviality. These things present themselves as harmless but it’s a dangerous culture. Italian TV is very superficial and very male chauvinistic. It’s based on the idea of total hedonism,” he said.
“I portray the idea that Berlusconi’s own personality is mirrored on his channels. I’m not saying he is singly responsible for the culture of Italian TV... but what we see on his TV is very close to what he is.” He added: “I interviewed someone who worked on his channel and he said Berlusconi hates the colour green, therefore they never had green as the colour of the backdrop.”
Videocracy is distributed by the independent company Fandango, which was behind the acclaimed 2008 Naples gangster film Gomorrah.
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Comments
One question.
The situation in the world is so good?
Stop with Berluscono problems..... we are full. In the world there are many problems to resolve.
Italy citizen
Watch from 15:55 to see Berlusconi's control over state media as he used political police to murder & assault protesters while silencing all local media, & trying to convince the world "there is nothing to see here!".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6HRt1bH
What happened with Berlusconi's bid for UK ITV?
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/b
"Berluscono" (sic) problems are all but to be neglected. Populism, chauvinism, macho-pseudo culture are paving the way to other so-called politicians. Mr B. is using Italy as a laboratory in order to understand how to get people in politicians' hands. As George Orwell in "1984", I fully agree in what the Indipendent wrote : in Italy what exists is on TV. Perhaps it happens in other countries as well but here TV IS mr B.!!!!
Any sort of opposition is suffocated or so despised to such an extant that you can't figure out: mr Boffo, director of Avvenire, Vatican related journal, has resigned few hours ago after an unacceptable attack from the whole Berlusconi newspapers.
In mr B. eyes any kind of opposition is remarked as "communist"..him, the best friend of "Tavarisch KGB" Putin!
Italy citizen...this is Europe not Italy or Russia, let your intrusion go to mr B newspapers, puddles are welcomed!
This post is just to witness that in Italy they are not all football coaches and Premier's lawyers! :)
It's obvious many who commentate here do not speak or understand Italian, otherwise they'd be able to listen and read by themselves and they'd have a less negative view of him, unfiltered by the pathetic, biased, snobbish La Repubbica commentaries, who have become a sort of "Rough Guide to Italian politics" for foreign journos. Do you SERIOUSLY believe so many Italians who voted for his coalition are fascists? Come on, I understand you have to find a target somewhere, but please. i'd say anarchists, instead, since this is a country where everyone feels entitled to do whatever he feels like knowing he will not be punished. Censorship, lack of freedom, suffucation of fundamental rights? Hey, sometimes i wish there was some of that, instead it seems there is no control over anything.
Shayne Genoway
Berlesconi well understands this. So does Rupert Murdoch. So did Edward Heath in 1972 when he hoodwinked the British people into joining the common market by co-opting the BBC to put across his political message. ( much the same way as NuLaba does today). Censorship and propaganda exists everywhere in the western media, be it Berlesconi stopping a critical show or the US media re-riting the history of the Iraq war in it's 'infotainment' shows.
Sadly it's a fact of life that big business media is in the pocket of the establishment. Try alternating between western news channels and Aljazeera English for a couple of days and see how much more relevant and unbiased Aljazeera is.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/post
The UN-commission in charge of the protection of human rights caracterized the Merkle's report about the human right situation in Germany as "insufficient". In an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, however, German journalists don't dare to broach the difficult human right situation in Germany and to mention the perpetrators of most severe human right violations. It is not astonishing that the Merkle who is personally responsible for the drastic degradation of the human right situation in Germany is not criticized at all for the further deterioration.
Now, the OECD has decided to observe the elections in Germany for the first time. The task of the OECD is to ensure democratic elections whenever there exist serious doubts whether a particular country complies with fundamental legal standards. The OECD will not only focus on the prohibition of some small parties. "This will be only one of various aspects."
The Merkle is personally involved in most severe human right violations. It's time to demand the Merkle to stop human right violations immediately.
Die Merkle blamiert Deutschland auf ganzer Linie.