“Pressure”: The banned television commercial for the Athens Biennale 2011
When Flix first showcased the Athens Biennale television commercial, directed by Giorgos Zois (“Casus Belli”), on Saturday October 22nd, the news that main sponsor ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation) had refused to air it was only a whisper. Unfortunately, the rumor has now been confirmed.
Main sponsor ERT refused to air the spot for the Athens Biennale, directed by Giorgos Zois (director of "Casus Belli", the mutli-awarded short film which premiered at the 67th International Venice Film Festival) fearing a backlash from the Greek National Council for Radio and Television, proving that even at a time like this, when the country is going to ruin, our “democratic” morale is flying high!
According to their official press release, “ERT does not censor, comment or assess artistic output. But it does have the obligation to function within a certain legal framework and it is responsible for its implementation. This legal framework does not allow the transmission of television commercials that include elements of violence or encourage any kind of behavior that could prove detrimental to public health and safety or insult human dignity. The above legal framework is widely known and anyone in the business of producing television commercials ought to have been aware of it”.
According to ERT, the ad in question is in infringement of law 1730 / 1987 and Presidential Decree 109/2010, as concerns audiovisual media services and television communication.
Giorgos Zois, on the other hand, explained to Flix.gr his thoughts about making the "banned" 25- second spot, especially for the Athens Biennale, depicting a world caught the throes of counter-action:
“This year’s motto of Athens Biennale was Monodrome, so we came up with images that would invest this term with meaning in the present tense. It’s about what we’re experiencing right here, right now. We shot the commercial with a Weisscam, that can capture hundreds of frames per second, so we chose actions that would be interesting to follow in slow motion. The six frames that made the final cut are images of accelerated everyday violence in decelerated mode.”
The spot was shot within the space of one day in Athens, courtesy of production companies The Syndicate and Top Cut, post production house ABL and everyone else involved.
For more information on the programme and the facilities of the Athens Biennale 2011, please click here www.athensbiennial.org
