The latest satellite broadcast ban enforced by German authorities on RT’s German-language channel shows the persecution of RT has reached the “level of absurdity,” acclaimed Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica believes.
There is “no justification” for taking RT’s German-language channel off air, the prominent film director said, commenting on a recent move of a European satellite operator, who did so on the request of German regulator MABB. “It is absolutely absurd,” he added.
The German authorities maintained that RT had no right to broadcast on German territory without a German license, even though the news media outlet obtained a Serbian license allowing it to broadcast in more than 30 European nations, including Germany. Berlin’s position does not reflect “the feelings of the people,” Kusturica said, adding that ordinary viewers seem to be very interested in the content that RT offers.
The filmmaker also said that Berlin might not in fact be “autonomous” in its decision since it appears to be part of a larger-scale push against RT based on an ideological conflict. “Freedom of press does not exist anymore,” Kusturica said, adding that everything nowadays eventually comes down to “ideology.”
The film director praised RT for showing the life of people in various parts of the world. “You suffer because you don’t polish reality,” he said, adding that RT does not seek to round off rough corners as other media that stick to the “Hollywood”-style content do.
The Serbian filmmaker also believes that Western governments would very much like to censor RT since it questions their own carefully built narrative that does not always reflect reality.“In the world after the 1990s that brought us bombs in Serbia … they want a truth to be a lie and a lie to the be the truth,” he said, adding that RT is “opening the windows through which people can see” what life really is.
Other broadcasters are just conveying the narrative and policies of the elites, Kusturica believes. “Market has … taken over democracy” a long time ago, the filmmaker said, adding that, now, the elites want people to just “consume the news like goods,” allowing them to shape people’s views as they see fit.
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