Films A-Z
Videocracy
Videocracy
Erik Gandini / Sweden / 2009 / 85 min.
"Anyone can become popular; all they have to do is be seen," says the Italian producer Lele Mora, a close friend of the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns most of the country's television stations and whose concept of successful broadcasting is clear - bright colours, alluring women and a visual feast. Besides profit, Berlusconi uses the media to promote himself. He broadcasts self-aggrandising promotional spots during election campaigns and he censors video archives. Mora assists him in every respect. For example, for television broadcasts, he picks the showgirls who dance mutely in swimwear before each Berlusconi show. The prime minister even selected one of these women as the minister for gender equality. The third protagonist of director Erik Gandini's film is the photographer Fabrizio Corona, who sells compromising photographs to the tabloid media. Using the example of Italian television, it becomes evident how the media can be used to aid political propaganda and the profits of the chosen few, whilst distorting reality in the process.
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