http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=06&dd=12&nav_id=51028
Kosovo film sparking controversy in Czech Rep. 12 June 2008 | 10:15 | Source: FoNet Czech TV is to go ahead with screening a documentary entitled “Stolen Kosovo”, TV spokesman Ladislav Stich has told daily Pravo. Czech TV has kept Vaclav Dvorak’s documentary under lock and key since March, because it “contains the viewpoints of only one (Serbian) side,” and does not refer to the Kosovo problem, even though the station itself participated in the financing of its production. Despite disagreements and arguments with Dvorak and producer Aleš Bednarž, the station has decided to show the documentary along with a film giving the viewpoints of the Albanian side. Both documentaries will be shown during a special televised political debate, featuring historians and political analysts. Czech TV is now searching for a suitable film giving the other side of the debate, for which there are five candidates, so the precise time and date of the broadcast has yet to be set. This documentary and the refusal of Czech TV to broadcast it has been stirring controversy for several months now between the film’s makers and Czech TV’s producer. The filmmakers claim that the station promised to broadcast the documentary on at least two occasions. However, the station claimed that it could not set an exact date for the broadcast because the documentary was “not balanced” and could not be shown without giving the other side’s point of view and an expert discussion. Meanwhile, an anonymous YouTube user has already posted the documentary under the title, “Czech Conscience”, where it was watched by almost 100,000 people during three weeks in May, until it was withdrawn. Czech TV admitted that it insisted on the film being withdrawn from YouTube, since its contract rights with the makers were being breached. Stich added that further legal action could be taken against the makers who deny posting the film on the internet.
