The Lost Signal of Democracy

Dir: Yorgos Avgeropoulos

It was an unprecedented occurrence in world history. Nowhere and never in well-governed democratic states, had the public broadcaster been silenced in such a manner that was characterized as “autocratic” and “undemocratic”.

Within five hours, on the evening of June 11, 2013, the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras turned off the switches of ERT, Greece’s public broadcaster, after 75 years of continuous operation. Both TV and radio frequencies fell silent, making screens broadcast black and the FM to buzz.

The closure of ERT was an unheard-of political act that shocked Greek citizens bringing back memories from the dark period of the dictatorship. It also caused a fierce international outrage from all around the world.

Why did the public broadcaster have to die?

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Info
  • DURATION: 65min (Theatrical) | 52min (TV Version)
  • AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES: English | French | Greek
  • AVAILABLE VERSIONS: English (65min) | French (52min) | Greek (65min)
  • YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2014
Main Credits
  • Written & Directed by : Yorgos Avgeropoulos
  • Produced by : Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Anastasia Skoubri
  • Picture: Yiannis Avgeropoulos, Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Anastasia Skoubri, Anna Prokou, Konstantinos Stathias, Alexis Barzos, Yorgos Santamouris, Alexandros Mavropoulos
  • Editing: Vasilis Magos
  • Additional Editing: Manolis Zeakis, Theodoros Popeskou, Anna Prokou
  • Music: Yiannis Paxevanis
  • Researchers: Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Georgia Anagnou, Andreas Vagias, Thomais Papaioannou
  • English Adaptation: Thalia Vavaleka
  • Transcripts & Translations: Georgia Anagnou, Andreas Vagias, Thomas Huisman, Ioanna Kitta
  • Musicians: Yiannis Paxevanis, Vasilis Tzavaras, Aris Koukos, Yorgos Bouldis, Mihalis Porfiris, Dinos Hadjiiordanou, Sotiris Kastanis, Dimos Polimeris
  • Sound Mix: Vasilis Magos
  • Web: Christos Lezos
  • Legal Advisor: Vasilis Sotiropoulos
  • Color Correction: Vasilis Magos
  • Additional Footage: Antonis Galanopoulos, Christos Avramidis (afterhistory.blogspot.gr), ERT WEB TV, Sotiris Maniatis, FOSPHOTOS / Reportage
A Small Planet Production © 2013
Distinctions & Awards

PRIX DU REPORTAGE MÉDITARRANÉEN
Prix International du Documentaire et du Reportage Méditerranéen (PriMed)
Marseille, France
December 2014

Downloads

Stills [zip / 3 jpg / 3,7 Mb]
Poster (GR) [jpg / 3 Mb]
Poster (EN) [jpg / 3,7 Mb]

Notes

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

“The Lost Signal of Democracy” encloses one of the most important and symbolic moments of the economic and social tragedy witnessed today in Greece. It is the most visible and indisputable case that the crisis’s first victim is Democracy, which dies, ironically in the country where it was born. The film records from beginning to end everything that happened in the case of ERT, condensing within an hour, a period of five months. It features all people who played a decisive role in this case, both in Greece and the European Union. They analyze the reasons that led to the sudden death of Greece’s public broadcaster, and open the debate on the dark and uncertain future of public service broadcasting in Europe.

About the Director
Yorgos Avgeropoulos
Yorgos Avgeropoulos is a Greek documentary filmmaker and journalist. He was born in Athens in 1971. He studied journalism and worked as a war correspondent in Sarajevo, Croatia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2000 he created Exandas Documentary Series that was broadcast on Greek television for 13 consecutive years. Documentaries of the series have also been broadcast by dozens of international TV networks and have been screened at film festivals in various countries. Today, Avgeropoulos mainly collaborates with international networks. In total he has created more than 100 socio-political documentaries shot in about 50 countries, and has been honored with many international awards and distinctions at film festivals around the world.