ORF refuses broadcasting of "Article 7 - Our Right!"

Authors of Documentary on Minority Call on ORF to Air It

Vienna, 27 January (STA) - The authors of a documentary on the situation of the Slovenian
minority in the Austrian province of Carinthia have called on Austrian public broadcaster
ORF to air the film without hesitation.

Art historian Eva Simmler and director Thomas Korschil have also asked "the responsible
politicians" to defend the right to express one's opinion as well as respect minority
rights and the rulings of the Austrian Constitutional Court.
ORF planned to show the documentary "Artikel 7 - Unser Recht" (Article 7 - Our Right), a
co-production of ORF and the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, at the beginning
of December 2005.
However, ORF decided not to air the film after all, citing supposed bias of the film as
the reason for its decision.
TV Slovenija, which aired the film in October, reported in December that both ORF and TV
Slovenija contributed material for the documentary and also took joint decisions with
regard to the film's content.
In their joint appeal, published on Thursday, Simmler and Korschil said that ORF's
statement about the film's bias is unfounded.
They called on their colleagues, the politicians and the minority organisations to take a
stand against the ORF's "intolerable actions".

Austrian Broadcaster Blocks Airing of Documentary on Minority

Ljubljana, 14 December (STA) - Austrian public television broadcaster ORF has backed away from airing a documentary on the situation of the Slovenian minority in the Austrian province of Carinthia, citing supposed one-sidedness of the film as the reason for its decision.

The documentary "Artikel 7 - Unser Recht" (Article 7 - Our Right) is a co-production of the ORF and the Slovenian public broadcaster RTV Slovenija. While it was aired in Slovenia in October, ORF planned to show it at the beginning of December.

The makers of the 83 minute film on the history of the Slovenian minority's tribulations in Carinthia, director Thomas Korschil and art historian Eva Simmler, were surprised by ORF's decision. According to them, it is probably a result of political pressure, TV Slovenija reported on Tuesday.

According to the Austrian Press Agency, APA, the ORF said last Thursday that it could not air the film because Austrian law commits the public broadcaster to full objectivity.

TV Slovenija reported that both the ORF and TV Slovenija contributed material for the documentary and also took joint decisions with regard to the film's content. The Slovenian public broadcaster also stressed that there were never any questions concerning the objectivity of the documentary from the Austrian public broadcaster.