LE SIGNAL PERDU DE LA DEMOCRATIE
52 minutes, 2013
Direction : Yorgos AVGEROPOULOS (Greece)
Production : Small Planet Productions (Greece)

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On June 11th 2013 the Greek government announced the immediate closure of the public broadcaster, ERT. That same night, after 75 years of continuous broadcasting, all radio and television frequencies were silenced. There was only a black screen, shocking Greek citizens and causing a wave of international indignation.
“The Lost Signal of Democracy” shows what happened from within: from the announcement of the shut down to the creation of an illegal channel and the evacuation of the premises by riot police. The film analyzes the decision’s implications in the political and economic world. It reveals how this shut down, while temporarily satisfying the demands of the troika to reduce public broadcasting expenditure, gave the Greek government political control of the media just before it took the presidency of the European Union. The film also shows how the shut down helped a commercial television consortium, hand in glove with the state. Above all, it questions the dark, uncertain future of all European public broadcasting networks and public services in general, especially in those countries affected by the crisis.

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