SIGNIS Media: Romero Communicator

SIGNIS MEDIA

ISSN 0771-0461 - Publication trimestrielle - Bureau de Poste Bruxelles X - Octobre 2018

N°3/2018 Publication trimestrielle multilingue / Multilingual quarterly magazine / Revista trimestral multilingße

Contents

4

20

Cover Story Romero Communicator

Television 15 years of Salt & Light

14

Cinema SIGNIS at the Festivals

22 News from Everywhere

Eyecatcher Paolo Ruffini New Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See The Italian journalist Paolo Ruffini was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See. Pope Francis named, for the first time in the history of the Church, a layman as Prefect of a Roman dicastery. Before his appointment at the end of June, Ruffini was the director of the television station of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, TV2000.

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Born in Palermo on October 4, 1956, Ruffini attained his degree in Jurisprudence from La Sapienza University of Rome. Dr Ruffini has been a professional journalist since 1979. He has worked for the papers Il Mattino of Naples (1979-1986); and Il Messaggero of Rome (1986-1996); in radio he worked at Giornale Radio Rai (1996-2002), Canale Gr Parlamento (1998-2002), Radio 1 (1999-2002) and Inblu Radio (2014-2018); and in television at Rai3 (2002-2011), La 7 (2011-2014); and TV2000 (20142018). He has received numerous awards for journalism, and taken part in numerous conferences on the role of ethics in communications, new media, and the role of Christians in media.

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Editorial

SIGNIS MEDIA

Romero Embodies the Call to Communicate the Truth

Publication trimestrielle éditée par SIGNIS, l’Association catholique mondiale pour la communication

Central to Archbishop Romero’s ministry was the vocation to communicate the truth, compelled by witnessing the injustice against the Salvadoran poor. To carry out what became his fundamental task, he used the different technologies available then, such as the radio and the printing press.

His message bore the stamp of his unique style: a closeness to people, simple and didactic language, a profound reading of reality, and an unrelenting commitment to truth.

His theology of communications led him to the only action possible: persisting in the demand that all parties seek a path to peace in his country. He was the voice of truth in El Salvador – one that some felt had to be silenced. Romero was what he would call a “microphone of God”.

His voice still resonates among the honest communicators of the world. SIGNIS, in its quest to show the human face of the commitment to truth in contemporary communication, has embraced the figure of Romero-Communicator. He is inspiration for all who work to report the truth in a time of fake news.

Romero incarne la vocation de communiquer la vérité

Quarterly published by SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication Publicación trimestral editada por SIGNIS, la Asociación Católica Mundial para la Comunicación SIGNIS Rue Royale, 310 – 1210 Brussels – Belgium Tel: 32 (0)2 734 97 08 – Fax: 32 (0)2 734 70 18 E-mail: sg@signis.net signis.net @SIGNIS facebook.com/signisworld youtube.com/user/signisworld flickr.com/photos/signisworld

Tout au long du ministère de Mgr Romero, la vocation de communiquer est devenue une tâche fondamentale, pour laquelle il a utilisé différents médias tels que la radio et la presse écrite. Il avait son style propre : la proximité avec les gens, un langage simple et didactique, une lecture profonde de la réalité et un engagement indéfectible pour la vérité. Dans cette perspective théologique et éthique de la communication, il a exigé avec insistance la pacification de son pays, El Salvador.

Editor: Guido CONVENTS Editorial Team: Guido CONVENTS Larry RICH Edgar RUBIO Ricardo YÁÑEZ

Sa parole résonne encore aujourd’hui parmi les communicateurs du monde. Dans sa quête permanente de donner un visage à la communication contemporaine, SIGNIS a adopté la figure de RomeroCommunicateur comme référence de son attachement à la vérité.

Dans cette édition de SIGNIS-Media, nous revenons aux intuitions communicatives de Romero et aux messages avec lesquels il a construit un lien original avec sa communauté, pour redécouvrir deux appels puissants : l’invitation à être « les microphones de Dieu » et la demande de « donner une voix aux sans-voix » ; des idées qui, sans aucun doute, nous aideront à façonner notre propre vocation de communicateurs.

Cover: MA Lay-out: Pascale HEYRBAUT Translation Team: Marc BOURGOIS Alejandro HERNÁNDEZ Isabelle VERBRUGGE

Romero encarna la vocación de comunicar la verdad

Administration: Fabienne DESEAU Florentina GONZALO

En el centro del ministerio de Monseñor Romero, brotó la vocación de comunicar, tarea fundamental en la que utilizó distintas medios como la radio y la prensa escrita. Selló ambas con un estilo propio: cercanía con la gente, un lenguaje sencillo y didáctico, una lectura profunda de la realidad y un compromiso inquebrantable con la verdad. Bajo esta mirada teológica y ética de la comunicación, exigió persistentemente la pacificación de su país, El Salvador.

Su palabra aún resuena entre los comunicadores del mundo. SIGNIS, en su búsqueda permanente de dar rostro a la comunicación contemporánea, abrazó la figura de Romero-Comunicador como referente de su compromiso con la verdad.

En esta entrega de SIGNIS-Media, retomamos las intuiciones comunicativas de Romero y los mensajes con los que construyó un vínculo original con su comunidad, para redescubrir dos poderosos llamados: la invitación a ser “micrófonos de Dios” y la demanda profética de “dar voz a los que no tienen voz”; ideas que, sin ninguna duda, nos ayudarán a dar forma a nuestra propia vocación como comunicadores.

Editorial Team

Please send all your news to news@signis.net Merci d’envoyer toutes vos actualités à news@signis.net Favor de enviarnos información y colaboraciones al correo news@signis.net Signed articles express the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of SIGNIS.

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N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 3

Cover story

Romero Communicator “If some day they take the radio station away from us, if they close down our newspaper, if they don’t let us speak, if they kill all the priests and the bishop too, and you are left, a people without priests, each one of you must be God’s microphone, each one of you must be a messenger, a prophet.”

Oscar Romero

Romero was considered the “voice of the voiceless” .

In this issue, SIGNIS Media celebrates with people of good will all over the world the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador, the Patron of SIGNIS. As members of a lay association of the faithful dedicated to communications, we are challenged by his words about every Christian becoming God’s microphone, words rooted in events long before this joyful moment. The full context in which he gave us that image is one in which speaking God’s word could get one killed. Even today he is, as Pope Francis said, “a man who continues to be martyred” by those who defame him for being too political because he grasped that God could not be silent about the oppression and murder of the poor.

Oscar Romero is so well-revered by many of us that we may miss the full meaning of the message he is for us.

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What does it mean to truly read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel as he did? When the times serve up to us an endless stream of photos and videos of immigrants, refugees and the desperately poor being treated as virtual refuse by the powerful who do not care about them? Might reflecting on our role as Catholic media workers in such a world lead us to a broader, deeper theology of communication?

Likewise, though he was considered the “voice of the voiceless,” he understood–and so must we–that the whole point is to work mightily so that the voiceless can speak for themselves because they have reclaimed their dignity before God. They have the right to access media that reflects their lives, struggles, hopes and dreams. No longer voiceless, but also no longer faceless in our digital, visual world.

The content in this number of the magazine only begins to explore the profound challenges and expansive hope to which Saint Oscar Romero calls us. We are invited to pray and act on where that call might take each of us, SIGNIS, and the Church.

Larry Rich

Cover story Romero Lived his Ministry as a Communicator Interview Decades ago our two interviewees shared a deep connection to El Salvador. Both also have their own history with Oscar Romero. Since the assassination of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Julian Filochowski (JF) has dedicated much of his life to preserving the memory of “the voice of those without a voice”. For this purpose, he founded a center in London dedicated to a documentary archive on Romero. Martin Maier (MM) is a Jesuit who carried out a major part of his ministry in El Salvador.

He is the author of several books on Romero. Currently, he is secretary for Europe of the Jesuit European Social Center. Both spoke with SIGNIS at the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute, in Brussels.

SIGNIS (S): Did you know Romero personally?

JF: I remember, having been with him several times, that he was to some extent a shy man. He never dominated conversations. On the contrary he would step aside.

When he had something to say, he would say it, but not with insistence or trying to impose anything. He was a very kind man, with a lot of compassion. We know him more by his homilies and by what he said from the pulpit, where we see the process of him becoming a great man, capable of preaching, of speaking in an inspiring way. He was very close to the poor. He listened to them until very late at night in his office. He was also very close to God, led a rich life of prayer, and intensely studied the Gospel for his homilies.

S: How was Romero as a communicator ?

JF: I would say that Romero was an exceptional evangelist.

His interest in communicating began at a very young age, when he began his ministry. He had responsibility for the newspaper of the Diocese of San Miguel, which was El Chaparrastique. There he began to publish his homilies. Then he was in charge of the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Salvador Orientación. At first he tried to stifle the newspaper’s social perspective, this was a time when he was reacting against the politicization of the Church. Later as Bishop of Santiago de María he again emphasized media work. He was editor of the newspaper El Apostólico. Romero has this consistent orientation as a journalist and communicator. When he arrived in San Salvador, this was easy to notice because they began to broadcast all his homilies on the radio on a Catholic network, and everyone listened to it because it was a live homily that you could hear. Everyone had it on their radio. You could go through the streets of San Salvador without a radio and not lose a single word of Romero, because every house had it on the radio at full volume. If one was traveling by bus, it could be heard there too; if one went in a taxi, one could listen to it in the taxi. So he was a communicator and an example for everyone in this regard.

The people felt Romero was simply one of them.

MM: What impressed me and continues to impress me, is the change, the evolution. Some even speak of a conversion that took place in the life of Archbishop Romero, a bishop who was considered rather conservative, as someone who did not want the Church to get involved in social and political conflicts ... he became a prophet; for me he became a prophet of faith and justice.

S: How did he communicate? What do you remember about his relationships with people?

JF: He was very close to the people. They felt he was simply one of them. He came from a poor family, though not one living in extreme poverty. His father was a telegraph operator; they were common folk, and he never forgot this. When visiting the communities, he did not go to the church to see people, but went to their homes, knocked on their doors, talking with them about their problems, and in the end, people would follow him to the church, and in the church he would speak to them. ... He was a bishop who was a friend, a brother, and it seemed like this was his way of living the preferential option for the poor ... He became a martyr of the preferential option for the poor.

MM: In the words of Pope Francis, it could be said that he was a bishop who smelled like the sheep.

On the same day, October 14, Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Romero were canonized. Both men did meet several times in life and had a mutual sympathy for each other. Pope Paul VI was strongly influenced by the French philosopher, Jacques Maritain, especially for his interpretation of Catholic political thinking that embraced contemporary concerns for human rights, democracy and political liberties. In his encyclical, Populorum Provressio (March 1967), Paul VI expanded the Church’s preoccupation with bringing about social justice in a national context so as to focus it on the need for social justice in a global setting, warning that “the hour for action has now sounded”. In that sense, Pope Paul profoundly influenced Romero by his recognition that the social sphere was a space in which people could secure their fundamental rights. It was Pope Paul VI who encouraged Archbishop Romero to find the courage to continue his defense of the poor and oppressed.

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N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 5

Cover story

He communicated the signs of the times and interpreted them in the light of the Gospel,

MM: In San Miguel he also founded the Radio Chaparrastique station, named for the volcano in San Miguel. They tell that in his time bishop of Santiago de Maria, he mounted a loudspeaker in his jeep and traveled around the diocese, preaching and calling the people together. Julian mentioned the radio station of the Archdiocese (of San Salvador), YSAX, which transmitted his homilies, and that several times it was dynamited and destroyed by bombs because they wanted to silence the voice of Archbishop Romero. In one of his homilies he tells parishioners if the bishop, priests, and radio station are silenced, then each of you has to be “God’s microphone”.

I think it is also expresses the mission that invites all of us Christian to be communicators, in the same sense as Vatican II, which has led to a new appreciation of the work of the laity in evangelization.

S: Were these homilies on the radio, their broadcast, the cause of Romero‘s assassination?

MM: It was not the cause, because the radio was only the means of transmission. But it is true that the most famous homily was given one day before he was killed, in which he made that call to the military and security forces where he says: “I beg you, I ask you, I order you, stop the repression,” which was met with a big, long round of applause, and it all was broadcast on the radio. A few weeks earlier they had destroyed the station, and it was precisely that Sunday, March 23, when the diocesan radio station went back on the air. It seems that this call to the military was a red line–it was seen as a call to the soldiers to disobey orders, and that was the last straw for those who planned his murder.

JF: The last homily contains that beautiful phrase, and while there were many others, it was the catalyst to putting into action a plan which had been in the works long beforehand, to assassinate him, and they did it the next day, Monday, at night, when he was celebrating a mass for people with terminal cancer in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence.

S: Do you believe there is a theology of communication to be found in Romero‘s ministry?

MM: It‘s an interesting question. It makes me reflect– well, I mentioned when he said: “All of you have to be God’s microphone”, and I believe that implicitly there is a theology that I would relate to Vatican II, with the new role of the laity also as preachers, as missionaries. Apart from that, if it would be an interesting topic to pursue. It is mainly the homilies that he left us as his heritage, where there are also theological reflections. I would rather say that he put into practice a theology of preaching.

JF: Yes, I believe that his way of communicating, if you examine the homilies, you see a communication of a didactic nature, a person who knew how to communicate the Gospel and events in an integrated way, not as separate realities. He communicated the signs of the times and interpreted them in the light of the gospel, and this in a certain sense is a theology of communication.

Romero was a man who always told the truth, and this is a fundamental part of communication. Nowadays communicators tell lies, falsehoods, Fake News. Romero spoke the truth; what he thought was what he said, and what he said was what he did. He told the truth when it was convenient and also when it was not convenient, which makes him a communicator of the truth.

PERU

Luciano Metzinger: From Dachau to the Andes One of the persons who can be seen as “another Romero” is Bishop Luciano Metzinger of Peru. He ascribed his interest in human rights to his experience as a priest during World War II interned in the Dachau concentration camp. Marked for execution several times for his role in the French resistance, he somehow survived. He eventually went as a missionary to Peru, where in 1964 he was appointed the first bishop of the mountain diocese of Ayaviri. There he came to see the need for the church to understand the worldview of the long-oppressed Aymara and Quechua peoples. “The Gospel cannot be preached to brothers who have not experienced the fraternity of other men,” he wrote referring to the cultural and economic exclusion of indigenous peoples. With six other prelates in 1969 he founded the Andean Pastoral Institute, which validated the indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures and promoted lay leadership. Named head of the Episcopal Social Communications Commission in 1968, for 18 years he voiced the Peruvian bishops’ calls for justice during a period of social upheaval. He had a reputation for openness with the press and took interest in the training of journalists.

In 1983 he founded the Commission for the Defense of the Rights of the Person and Peace-building. Metzinger was founding President of the Center for Peace Studies and Action (CEAPAZ), which from its beginning in 1987 was a key defender of human rights during the war between the violent Shining Path rebels and the repressive Fujimori regime in which 70,000 people died. He worked there until his death in 1992. Bishop Metzinger was a Vice President of OCIC and lifetime president of UCLAP in Peru. In 2006, the Peruvian Association of Communicators “Bishop Luciano Metzinger” was founded as a member organization of SIGNIS. Larry Rich 6 – SIGNIS Media ­– N°3/2018

Cover story Fr Joshep Anucha Chaiyadej (Thailand), SIGNIS Board Member “It has been a long time ago since I watched the movie Romero, and I believe that this movie was about a priest who was martyred by having been shot and murdered while celebrating mass. When I grew up and learned more about the name “Romero”, I found that it was not only that the film Romero was exciting, but I was also excited to have found that there actually was a real live “Romero”, who exists in El Salvador’s history and in the Directory of the Beatified. When I work in the field of media, the inspiration that I have received form the Patron of SIGNIS was not only from the images from the film, but also from his homilies, writings, memoirs, etc. His contributions went beyond his media work, for he has created them with his life and has confirmed the truth with his death.

His death is speaking volumes through his soon-to-be canonization.”

Brussels, April 2018

JF: The cause of his martyrdom was that he spoke the truth. They did not want the people to know what was happening, so the only way of knowing what was going on in the country was his homilies, everyone listened to them because It was the only way to know the truth.

Journalist of the poor S: Is there a basis here to hear a call to modern communicators about how to live the vocation to communication, journalism, cinema and television?

JF: Yes, I think you have chosen Archbishop Romero as your patron, which is a really the right thing, because he can be a patron of many things such as justice and peace, charity and even suffering, like those who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, because he had problems like that and he overcame them. He could be the patron of this or that, but I believe it is the journalism, the communication, that is really what he lived from the first moment in which he was a priest in San Miguel until his last words. He was communicating the Gospel and if people read or listen to what he said in those last moments, he is offering his life for justice and for peace.

MM: I think it was during his life that he was given the title of journalist of the poor, and I think that could also be an interesting reflection, which means that, well, that journalism also has to take sides, not in the sense of partisan politics, but in terms of the option for the poor, for those who have no voice.

JF: Not that this is the ideal, the ideal is to give voice to those who have no voice, but in the meantime we are their voice until they can recover their own, and this is indeed what Romero was doing, saying what the powers of this world do not want said.

MM: Archbishop Romero was accused of being a Communist, a Marxist, a terrorist, simply because he told the truth in the world of the 1970s ... I think that one could reflect more deeply on the theology of journalism that is found in Archbishop Romero.

Interview: Edgar Rubio

“Silencing Romero‘s radio broadcasts“ Secret Document April 19, 1979 Live radio broadcasts of Archbishop Romero’s Sunday morning homilies have been jammed for the past three weeks, i.e., April 1, 8 and 15. in the initial incident, the jamming began as the Archbishop turned from theological to human rights and politically oriented remarks. subsequently the jamming has been irrespective of subject matter.

The Archbishop ‘s homilies are broadcast live from the cathedral by YSAX, the archdiocese ‘s radio station. the signal is sent from the cathedral via a small microwave relay to the radio transmitter. preliminary investigations appear to indicate that the jamming takes place in connection with that relay. Subsequent repeat broadcasts are of the limited official use. It is not known who is responsible for the jamming.

Initially, even the station management thought the interference might be innocent or accidental. Now there is certainty that it is deliberate, but the Archbishop has not directly laid the blame on the government.

In a press release, however, the Archbishop ‘s office stated its view that a government disclaimer of responsibility would only be a valid defense if it would take steps to end the jamming. Another press release from same source notes that government officials as of yet had offered no explanation and shown no indication to investigate. Further speculation as to responsibility is rife, ranging from extreme rightists and elements of ANEP to the extreme left and terrorist groups; the former aiming to block the Archbishop ‘s message and the latter to build up indignation against the government and the right as the culprits. It is an interesting comment on the convoluted situation here that there is even a wild rumor the church is doing the jamming itself to portray itself as a martyr.

Comment (to this latter remark): the Archbishop and his supporters are counterattacking, issuing press releases calling the jamming “a systematic plan to silence the voice of the Archbishop”, “provocation”, “persecution of the church”, and “an escalation of violence against the church”. The Archbishop talked to (US) Congressman (Tom) Harkin during the latter‘s visit April 12, and then noted in a subsequent broadcast that he had presented to the congressman evidence on the jamming (reftel*). The highly emotional issue of freedom of speech and information as it applies to the Archbishop will almost certainly receive more widespread publicity and could turn into a cause celebre.

From: 2014 Declassified Document : American Embassy in San Salvador to Secretary of State in Washington DC, April 19, 1979, priority

*reference telegram

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Dossier

Mgr. Romero, communicateur © Johan Bergström-Allen

« Si on nous enlève la radio, si on nous enlève le journal, qu’on ne nous laisse plus parler, qu’on tue les prêtres et l’évêque, et qu’il n’y a plus que vous, un peuple sans prêtre, vous devez être un microphone de Dieu. Chacun d’entre vous doit devenir un messager, un prophète ».

Oscar Romero

Romero était considéré comme la « voix des sans-voix »

Dans ce numéro, SIGNIS Media célèbre la canonisation de Mgr Oscar Arnulfo Romero, archevêque d’El Salvador et patron de SIGNIS. En tant que membres d’une association laïque de fidèles travaillant dans les communications, ses paroles sur chaque chrétien devenant le micro de Dieu nous emmènent au-delà de la joie de ce moment. Le contexte complet dans lequel il nous a donné cette image est celui dans lequel exprimer la parole de Dieu peut tuer. Aujourd’hui encore, il est, comme l’a dit le pape François, « un homme qui continue d’être martyrisé » par ceux qui le diffament comme étant trop politique parce qu’il a compris que Dieu ne pouvait pas garder le silence sur l’oppression et le meurtre des pauvres.

Nous vénérons tellement Oscar Romero que nous pouvons manquer la pleine signification du message qu’il est pour nous. Qu’est-ce que cela signifie vraiment de lire les signes des temps à la lumière de l’Evangile comme il l’a fait ? Quand les temps nous servent un flot incessant de photos et de vidéos d’immigrants, de réfugiés et de personnes désespérément pauvres traités comme des déchets virtuels par les puissants qui n’en n’ont rien à faire ? Une réflexion sur notre rôle de travailleurs des médias catholiques dans un tel monde pourrait-elle nous conduire à une théologie plus large de la communication ? De même, même s’il était considéré comme la « voix des sans-voix », il comprenait - et nous devrions aussi - que le but était de travailler pour que les sans-voix puissent parler d’eux-mêmes, parce qu’ils ont réclamé leur dignité devant Dieu. Ils ont le droit d’accéder à des médias qui reflètent leur vie, leurs luttes, leurs espoirs et leurs rêves. Qu’ils ne soient plus des « sans voix », mais qu’ils ne soient plus non plus des « sans visage » dans notre monde numérique et visuel.

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Le contenu de ce numéro n’est que le début de l’exploration des défis profonds et de l’espérance expansive à laquelle Saint Oscar Romero nous appelle. Nous sommes invités à prier et à agir là où cet appel pourrait emmener chacun d’entre nous, SIGNIS et l’Eglise.

Larry Rich

Romero a vécu son ministère en tant que communicateur Il y a plusieurs décennies, nos deux interlocuteurs ont acquis une connaissance approfondie de El Salvador et ont également un lien spécial avec Mgr. Romero. Depuis l’assassinat de l’archevêque de San Salvador, Julian Filochowski a consacré une grande partie de sa vie à préserver la mémoire de « la voix des sans-voix », et a fondé à Londres un centre dédié à une archive documentaire sur Romero. Martin Maier est un jésuite qui a réalisé une grande partie de son ministère au Salvador. Il est l’auteur de plusieurs livres sur Romero et est actuellement le secrétaire pour l’Europe du Centre Social Européen des Jésuites. Tous deux se sont entretenus avec SIGNIS au siège de l’Institut Cervantes, à Bruxelles, en Belgique.

SIGNIS : Connaissiez-vous Romero personnellement ?

Julian Filochowski : Je me souviens d’avoir été avec lui à plusieurs reprises, et de le voir plutôt timide. Il n’a jamais dominé les conversations. Au contraire, il se retirait. Quand il avait quelque chose à dire, il le disait, mais sans insistance, ni en essayant d’imposer quelque chose ... c’était un homme très gentil, avec beaucoup de compassion ... nous le connaissons surtout par ses homélies et par ce qu’il disait depuis sa chaire, où nous le voyions devenir un grand Homme, capable de prêcher, de parler d’une manière inspirante ... il était un homme très proche des pauvres. Il les a écoutés jusque tard dans la nuit dans son bureau. Il était aussi très proche de Dieu, a mené une vie riche de prières et a intensément étudié l’Evangile pour ses homélies.

Martín Maier : Ce qui m’a toujours impressionné, et m’impressionne d’ailleurs toujours aujourd’hui, c’est le changement, l’évolution. Certains parlent même d’une conversion : il est passé d’un évêque considéré comme

Dossier plutôt conservateur, qui ne voulait pas que l’Eglise soit impliquée dans des conflits sociaux et politiques ... à une sorte de prophète de la foi et de la justice.

S : Comment communiquait-il ? Que retenez-vous de ses relations avec les gens ?

JF : Il était très proche des gens. Ils ont senti qu’il était simplement l’un d’entre eux. Il venait d’une famille pauvre, mais ne vivait pas dans une pauvreté extrême.

Son père était un opérateur de télégraphe ; ils étaient des gens ordinaires, et il ne l’a jamais oublié. Quand il visitait les communautés, il ne se rendait pas à l’Eglise pour voir les gens, mais allait chez eux, frappait à leur porte, discutait avec eux de leurs problèmes et finalement, les gens le suivaient à l’Eglise, où il leur parlerait. ... Il était un évêque qui était un ami, un frère... Il est devenu un martyr de l’option préférentielle pour les pauvres.

MM : Selon les mots du pape François, on pourrait dire qu’il était un évêque qui portait l’odeur des brebis.

S : Pouvez-vous commenter l’activité de Romero en tant que communicateur ?

JF : Je dirais que Romero était un évangélisateur exceptionnel. Son intérêt pour la communication a commencé à un très jeune âge, quand il a commencé son ministère. Il avait la responsabilité du journal du diocèse de San Miguel, El Chaparrastique. Là, il a commencé à publier ses homélies. Puis, il était en charge d’Orientación,

le journal de l’archidiocèse de San Salvador, où il a d’abord tenté de supprimer la perspective sociale du journal - c’était une période où il réagissait contre la politisation de l’Eglise. Plus tard, en tant qu’évêque de Santiago de María, il a de nouveau souligné le travail des médias. Il était rédacteur en chef du journal El Apostolico.

Romero a toujours eu cette orientation cohérente en tant que journaliste et communicateur. Quand il est arrivé à San Salvador, c’était facile à remarquer parce qu’ils ont commencé à diffuser toutes ses homélies à la radio sur un réseau catholique, et tout le monde l’a écouté parce que c’était une homélie en direct, que tout le monde écoutait. Vous pouviez traverser les rues de San Salvador sans radio et ne pas perdre un seul mot de Romero, parce que chaque maison l’écoutait à la radio à plein volume.

Si l’on voyageait en bus, on pouvait l’entendre là aussi ; si l’on prenait un taxi, on pouvait l’écouter dans le taxi.

Donc, il était un communicateur et un exemple pour tout le monde à cet égard.

Le peuple a senti que Romero était simplement l’un d’entre eux.

MM : À San Miguel, il a également fondé une radio qu’il baptisa El Chaparrastique, comme le volcan de San Miguel. En tant qu’évêque de Santiago de María, il monta un haut-parleur dans sa jeep et se déplaça dans tout le diocèse. Julian a mentionné la radio de l’archidiocèse (de San Salvador), YSA X, qui a transmis ses homélies et qui a été dynamitée et bombardée à plusieurs reprises ... parce qu’ils voulaient faire taire la voix de Mgr Romero.

Dans l’une de ses homélies, il dit aux paroissiens : si vous faites taire l’évêque, les prêtres, la radio, chacun de vous doit être un micro de Dieu. Je pense que cela exprime

FRANCE « Une option prioritaire assez radicale pour les pauvres » « Ceux qui, en France, se réclament de Mgr. Romero sont ceux qui font une option prioritaire assez radicale pour les pauvres », relève le dominicain Alain Durand. L’ancien directeur de Diffusion de l’information sur l’Amérique latine regrette que sa figure se soit « plutôt effacée » en France. « Il y a eu un affadissement du christianisme en France, on est revenu à une tiédeur, à un certain classicisme », constate-t-il, même s’il voit dans la démarche Diaconia cette dynamique de l’option préférentielle pour les pauvres. « Mais peut-être aurait-on pu mieux y valoriser la dimension proprement politique du combat pour les pauvres », regrette celui qui fit pourtant partie du groupe de suivi théologique de Diaconia.

Dans l’Eglise de France, rares sont ceux qui se réclament aujourd’hui de Mgr. Romero. Comme le CCFD-Terre solidaire, dont le travail pour l’Amérique latine s’inspire beaucoup de son œuvre. « Son option pour les pauvres, son souci d’être “la voix des sans-voix”, c’est ce que nous continuons avec nos partenaires sur place. Mais cela va dans les deux sens, car nous nous nourrissons aussi de leur engagement », souligne Walter Prysthon, chargé de l’Amérique latine au CCFD-Terre solidaire. « Le travail de Romero d’alerter et de dénoncer s’applique très bien à la situation que nous vivons avec les migrants, souligne de son côté Sœur Franca, Petite Sœur de l’Evangile du P. de Foucauld, aujourd’hui à Mulhouse, après vingt-quatre années passées au Salvador. Sa détermination peut nous aider à affronter ces situations pour chercher des solutions en faveur de ces plus faibles et être la voix de ceux qui n’ont pas de voix. » Mais à Garges-lès-Gonesse, l’école Oscar-Romero fait aussi vivre, à sa manière, l’héritage de l’archevêque assassiné. Fondée en 1974 pour des jeunes en rupture avec le système scolaire, elle s’est installée en 1980 à la limite du Val-d’Oise et de la Seine-Saint-Denis. « Nous étions dans un contexte très communiste, avec des collèges Pablo-Neruda ou Pablo-Picasso », raconte son fondateur, le F. Nicolas Capelle, devenu ensuite supérieur provincial des Frères des écoles chrétiennes. « Quand j’ai trouvé le terrain, en 1980, Romero venait d’être assassiné. Sa volonté d’être la voix des sans-voix correspondait bien à notre projet. » Extrait : Nicolas Senèze, « En France, la figure de Mgr. Romero s’est effacée », La Croix, 2015

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Dossier aussi cette mission qui invite chaque chrétien à être communicateur, dans le même sens que Vatican II, qui a conduit à une nouvelle appréciation du travail des laïcs dans l’évangélisation.

S : Croyez-vous que la transmission de ces homélies à la radio, leur diffusion, a été la cause de l’assassinat de Romero ?

MM : La cause, je ne pense pas, parce que la radio était uniquement le moyen de transmission. Il est cependant vrai que l’homélie la plus célèbre a été prononcée et diffusée un jour avant sa mort. Il s’est adressé aux militaires et aux forces de sécurité : « Je vous en prie, je vous demande, je vous ordonne, arrêtez la répression ».

Cela a été accueilli par de grands applaudissements et diffusé à la radio. Quelques semaines auparavant, la station avait été détruite et avait recommencé à diffuser ce dimanche 23 mars précisément. Il semble que cet appel à l’armée fut le franchissement d’une ligne rouge, qui fut interprété comme un appel aux soldats à désobéir. C’était certainement la dernière goutte d’eau qui a permis de planifier son meurtre.

Romero communiquait les signes des temps et les interprétait à la lumière de l’Evangile.

JF : Cette dernière homélie contenait cette belle phrase, et bien qu’il y en ait eu beaucoup d’autres, c’était le catalyseur pour mettre en action un plan d’assassinat, qui était en préparation depuis longtemps. Ils l’ont fait le lendemain, lundi durant la nuit, quand il célébrait une messe pour les personnes atteintes d’un cancer en phase terminale dans la chapelle de l’Hôpital de la Divine Providence.

S : Existe-t-il une théologie de la communication de Romero, une expérience spéciale de Dieu dans son témoignage communicatif ?

MM : C’est une question intéressante qui me fait réfléchir… Comme je vous l’ai dit : « vous devez tous être un micro de Dieu » et je crois implicitement qu’il y a une théologie que je rapporterais à Vatican II, avec le nouveau rôle des laïcs comme prédicateurs, en tant que missionnaires. En dehors de cela, ce serait un sujet intéressant à étudier. Ce sont surtout ses homélies qui nous ont laissé un héritage, grâce à des réflexions théologiques.

Je dirais donc plutôt qu’il a mis en pratique une théologie de la prédication.

JF : Oui, je crois que, si vous examinez les homélies, vous voyez une communication de nature didactique, une personne qui savait communiquer l’Evangile et les événements de manière intégrée, et non comme des réalités distinctes. Il communiquait les signes des temps et les interprétait à la lumière de l’Evangile, ce qui, dans un certain sens, est une théologie de la communication.

Romero était un homme qui a toujours dit la vérité, et c’est une partie fondamentale de la communication. De nos jours, les communicateurs disent des mensonges, des faussetés, des fake news. Romero disait la vérité, il disait ce qu’il pensait, et faisait ce qu’il disait. Il disait la vérité que ce soit approprié ou non, ce qui fait de lui un communicateur de la vérité.

JF : La cause de son martyre est qu’il ait dit la vérité. Ils ne voulaient pas que les gens sachent ce qui se passait, alors la seule façon de savoir ce qui se passait dans le pays était ses homélies - tout le monde les écoutait parce que c’était la seule façon de connaître la vérité.

Journaliste des pauvres S : Pensez-vous qu’il existe une base ici, un appel aux communicateurs modernes pour vivre la vocation à la communication, au journalisme, au cinéma et à la télévision ?

JF : Oui, je crois que vous avez une raison de choisir Mgr Romero en tant que patron, car il peut être le protecteur de beaucoup de choses telles que la justice et la paix, la charité et même la souffrance comme les troubles obsessionnels compulsifs. Il avait des problèmes de ce genre et il les combattait ... Il pouvait être le patron de tel ou tel, mais le journalisme et la communication, je pense que c’était vraiment sa raison de vivre, tout au long de son existence ... Il communiquait l’Evangile et si les gens lisent ou écoutent ce qu’il a dit dans ces derniers moments, il offre sa vie pour la justice et pour la paix.

MM : Je pense que c’est au cours de sa vie qu’on lui a donné le titre de journaliste des pauvres et je pense que cela pourrait aussi être une réflexion intéressante, ce qui veut dire que le journalisme doit aussi prendre parti, pas dans le sens de politique partisane, mais en termes d’option pour les pauvres, pour ceux qui n’ont pas de voix.

JF : Non pas que ce soit l’idéal - l’idéal est de donner la parole à ceux qui n’ont pas de voix, mais en attendant nous sommes leur voix jusqu’à ce qu’ils puissent récupérer la leur, et c’est ce que faisait Romero.

MM : Mgr Romero a été accusé d’être un communiste, un marxiste, un terroriste, simplement parce qu’il a dit la vérité dans le monde des années 1970 ... Je pense qu’on pourrait réfléchir plus profondément sur la théologie du journalisme que l’on trouve chez Mgr Romero.

Interview par Edgar Rubio

Magali Van Reeth (France), membre du Comité directeur de SIGNIS Ce qui me touche et m’inspire le plus, c’est la façon dont Mgr. Romero s’est laissé porter par une espèce d’appel qu’il n’avait pas prévu. Il n’avait pas anticipé tout ce qu’il allait faire, mais il l’a fait, et je trouve cette capacité de pouvoir répondre à un appel vraiment extraordinaire.

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© Johan Bergström-Allen

Tema de tapa

Romero, Comunicador “Si algún día nos quitan la estación de radio, si cierran nuestro periódico, si no nos dejan hablar, si también matan a todos los sacerdotes y al obispo, y quedan ustedes solos, un pueblo sin sacerdotes, cada uno de ustedes debe ser el micrófono de Dios, cada uno de ustedes debe ser un mensajero, un profeta”. Óscar Romero En esta entrega, SIGNIS Media celebra junto a las personas de buena voluntad de todo el mundo, la canonización del Arzobispo Óscar Arnulfo Romero, Patrono de SIGNIS. Como miembros de una asociación de fieles laicos que trabajan en el área de las comunicaciones sociales, sus palabras sobre cómo cada cristiano puede convertirse en un micrófono de Dios, nos conducen a un territorio de profunda alegría y compromiso. El contexto en el que nos comunicó esta imagen acústica, era uno en el que hablar la verdad de Dios podía conducir a la muerte.

Incluso hoy, como dijo el Papa Francisco, Monseñor Romero es “un hombre que continúa siendo martirizado” por aquellos que lo difaman por expresar las realidades sociales y políticas de El Salvador y porque comprendió que Dios no calla ante la opresión y el asesinato de los pobres. Óscar Romero es tan venerado por muchos de nosotros que podemos perdernos sin adentrarnos en el significado de su testimonio ¿Qué significa leer realmente

los signos de los tiempos, a la luz del Evangelio, como lo hizo él?, cuando esta época se ha convertido en un flujo interminable de fotos y vídeos de migrantes, refugiados y personas desesperadamente pobres siendo tratados como basura virtual por los poderosos, a quienes no les importa su sufrimiento. ¿Es posible que, al reflexionar en el actual contexto, sobre nuestro papel como comunicadores católicos, esto nos conduzca a la construcción de una teología de la comunicación? Del mismo modo, aunque se le consideraba la “voz de los sin voz”, Romero entendió, y nosotros también debemos intentar asimilar, que el objetivo es trabajar poderosamente para que los que “no tienen voz” puedan hablar por sí mismos, porque han reclamado su dignidad ante Dios y tienen derecho a acceder a los medios de comunicación para reflejar sus vidas, luchas, esperanzas y sueños. En nuestro entorno digital, ya no solo no tienen voz, también han perdido su rostro. El contenido de esta edición es solo el inicio de un periplo hacia los profundos desafíos y a la esperanza comunicativa a la que nos llama San Óscar Romero y es también una invitación a orar y a trabajar siguiendo la ruta personal a la que nos conduzca este mismo llamado, junto con SIGNIS y con la Iglesia.

Romero fue considerado la “voz de los sin voz”

Larry Rich N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 11

Tema de tapa Romero vivió su ministerio como un comunicador

S: ¿Cómo fue Monseñor Romero como comunicador?

Décadas atrás conocieron la América Latina profunda y entraron en contacto real con su gente. Ambos comparten su hermandad con esa tierra y ambos también tienen su propia historia con Monseñor Romero. Después del asesinato del Arzobispo de San Salvador, Julian Filochowski (JF) ha dedicado gran parte de su vida a preservar la memoria de “la voz de los que no tienen voz”, para tal propósito fundó en Londres, un centro dedicado al archivo documental de Romero. Martin Maier (MM) es un jesuita que realizó gran parte de su ministerio en El Salvador y quien es autor de varios libros sobre Romero.

Actualmente, es secretario para Europa del Centro Jesuita Europeo Social. Ambos conversaron con SIGNIS en Bruselas.

JF: Yo diría que Romero fue un evangelizador excepcional, su interés en comunicar surgió desde muy joven, cuando comenzó su ministerio, él tenía la responsabilidad del periódico de la Diócesis de San Miguel, que fue El Chaparrastique, ahí empezó a escribir sus homilías.

Después fue el encargado de Orientación que es el periódico de la Arquidiócesis de San Salvador, donde al principio trató de quitar el sentido social del periódico, fue una época en la que él estaba reaccionando contra la politización de la Iglesia; después fue Obispo de Santiago de María y otra vez empujó el trabajo en medios; fue editor del periódico El Apostólico. Romero tiene toda esta línea de periodista y de comunicador, al llegar a San Salvador fue fácil notarlo, por que empezaron a transmitir todas sus homilías por la radio en una red católica, y todo mundo las escuchaba porque era una homilía viva que se podía sentir y todo mundo la tenían en su radio, se podía pasar por las calles de San Salvador sin radio y no perder ni una palabra de Romero, porque, en cada casa lo tenían en la radio con volumen alto, si se viajaba en autobús estaba ahí también, si iba en el taxi, estaba en el taxi, entonces, era un comunicador y un ejemplo, en esta tarea, para todos.

SIGNIS (S): ¿Ustedes conocieron personalmente a Romero?

La gente sentía que Romero fue uno más de ellos

JF: Yo recuerdo haber estado con él varias veces y era un hombre hasta cierto punto tímido, él nunca dominó las conversaciones, al contrario, él se hacía a un lado, cuando tenía algo que decir lo decía pero no con insistencia o tratando de imponer nada… era un hombre muy amable, con mucha compasión… Lo que le conocemos es más por sus homilías y al hacerlo desde el púlpito, donde se fue convirtiendo en un gran hombre, capaz de pregonar, hablar en una forma inspiradora… fue un hombre muy cercano a los pobres, los escuchaba hasta muy tarde en la noche en su despacho y también muy cercano a Dios, llevaba una vida de oración bastante rica y estudiaba intensamente el Evangelio para sus homilías.

MM: Lo que a mí me impresionó y me sigue impresionando sobremanera es el cambio, la evolución. Algunos hablan hasta de una conversión que hubo en la vida de Monseñor Romero, un obispo que era considerado más bien como conservador, como alguien que no quiso que la iglesia se metiera en conflictos sociales y políticos… hacia un profeta, para mí se convirtió en un profeta de la fe y de la justicia.

MM: En San Miguel también fundó una Radio que bautizó con el nombre de Chaparrastique, el volcán de San Miguel, y cuentan que en su tiempo de obispo de Santiago de María, montó un altoparlante en su jeep y así se movió por la diócesis, predicando y convocando a la gente y Julian mencionó la radio de la Arquidiócesis, la YSAX que transmitió sus homilías y que varias veces fue dinamitada y destruida con bombas… porque quisieron callar la voz de Romero. En una de sus homilías dice a los feligreses: si están silenciando al obispo, a los sacerdotes, a la radio, cada uno de ustedes tiene que ser un micrófono de Dios. Yo opino que esto también expresa esta misión que nos invita a cada cristiano a ser comunicadores, en el mismo sentido del Vaticano II, que ha valorizado de una nueva manera, la tarea evangelizadora de los laicos.

S: ¿Cómo se comunicaba? ¿Qué recuerdas de su relación con la gente?

S: Ustedes creen que la transmisión de estas homilías por la radio, esta difusión, fue la causa del asesinato de Romero.

JF: Era muy cercano a la gente, ellos sintieron que fue uno más de ellos, sus orígenes provienen de una familia pobre, pero no de una pobreza extrema; su papa fue telegrafista, eran personas del pueblo y nunca se olvidó de esto.

Cuando visitaba las comunidades, no llegaba a la iglesia para llamar a la gente, sino llegaba a sus casas, tocaba en sus puertas, conversaban de sus problemas y al final, la gente estaba siguiéndole hasta la iglesia, y en la iglesia les hablaba a ellos… fue un obispo amigo, hermano y esto se sentía en la forma de vivir esta opción preferencial por los pobres… se hizo un mártir de la opción preferencial por los pobres.

MM: La causa no, porque la radio fue el medio de transmisión, pero es cierto que su homilía más famosa la hizo un día antes de que le mataran, donde hacía ese llamado a los militares y a las fuerzas de seguridad donde dice: les ruego, les pido, les ordeno, cesen la represión y eso fue saludado con un gran y largo aplauso y esto fue transmitido por la radio. Unas semanas antes habían destruido la estación y justo fue ese mismo domingo 23 de marzo 1980, cuando la radio diocesana volvió a transmitir. Parece que este llamado a los militares fue cruzar una línea roja, que fue leída como un llamado a los soldados a la desobediencia y eso fue la última gota para planear su asesinato.

MM: En palabras del Papa Francisco se podría decir que era un obispo con olor a oveja.

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Tema de tapa JF: La última homilía contiene esta bella frase, pero hubo muchas otras, pero esto fue el catalizador para poner en acción un plan, que se había fraguado desde mucho antes para asesinarlo y lo hicieron al día siguiente, lunes, en la noche, cuando estaba celebrando una misa en la capilla del hospital de la Divina Providencia, para personas con cáncer terminal.

Una teología de la comunicación en Romero S: ¿Creen que exista una teología de la comunicación en Romero, una experiencia especial de Dios en su testimonio comunicativo?

MM: Es una pregunta interesante, me hace reflexionar, bueno ya mencioné cuando dijo: todos ustedes tienen que ser un micrófono de Dios y yo creo que implícitamente hay una teología que yo relacionaría con el Vaticano II, con el nuevo papel de los laicos también como predicadores, como misioneros. Aparte de eso, si sería un tema interesante de rastrear. Son principalmente las homilías lo que nos dejó como herencia, donde hay también reflexiones teológicas, yo diría más bien que él puso en acto una teología de la predicación.

JF: Sí, yo creo que su forma de comunicarse, si se examina las homilías, se aprecia una comunicación de naturaleza didáctica, una persona que supo comunicar el evangelio y los hechos, no como realidades aparte sino integradas, comunicó los signos de los tiempos y los interpretó desde el evangelio y esto de cierta forma es una teología de la comunicación. Romero fue un hombre que siempre dijo la verdad y esto es una parte fundamental de la comunicación, hoy en día los comunicadores dicen mentiras, falsedades, Fake News… Romero habló la verdad, lo que pensó fue lo que dijo y lo que dijo, lo que hizo… dijo la verdad cuando fue conveniente y también cuando no fue conveniente, lo que lo convierte en un comunicador de la verdad. La causa de su martirio fue que habló la verdad, no quisieron que el pueblo supiera lo que estaba pasando, entonces la única forma de saber lo que ocurría en el país era por sus homilías, todo el mundo las escuchaba porque fue la única forma de saber la verdad.

ser patrono de muchas cosas como justicia y paz, de caridad y incluso de sufrimientos como los que padecen del trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo, porque el tenía sus problemas de este tipo y los fue venciendo… podría ser patrón de esto o de aquello, pero lo del periodismo, lo de la comunicación, yo creo que es realmente lo que vivió desde el primer momento en que era sacerdote en San Miguel hasta sus últimas palabras… estaba comunicando el Evangelio y si leen o si escuchan lo que dijo en esos últimos momentos, está ofreciendo su vida por la justicia y por la paz.

MM: Yo creo fue durante su vida que se le dio el título de periodista de los pobres y eso también podría ser una reflexión interesante, que quiere decir eso, bueno que el periodismo también tiene que tomar partido, no en el sentido del partidismo político, sino en el de la opción por los pobres, por los que no tienen voz.

Romero comunicó los signos de los tiempos y los interpretó desde el Evangelio

JF: No es que esto sea lo ideal, lo ideal es dar voz a los que no tienen voz pero mientras tanto, que nosotros seamos esa voz hasta que ellos puedan recuperar su voz y esto es lo que estaba haciendo Romero, decir lo que no le gusta a los poderes de este mundo que se diga.

MM: A Romero lo acusaron de comunista, marxista, de terrorista… simplemente porque dijo la verdad en el ambiente de la década de 1970… pienso que se podría reflexionar mas profundamente sobre una teología del periodismo que está presente en Monseñor Romero.

Entrevista realizada por Edgar Rubio

Periodista de los pobres © Johan Bergström-Allen

S: ¿Creen que aquí haya una cimiente, un llamado a los comunicadores modernos de cómo vivir la vocación hacia la comunicación, el periodismo, el cine y la televisión?

JF: Sí, yo creo que han escogido a Romero como patrono lo cual es una cosa realmente correcta, porque puede

Carlos Ferraro (Argentina), Presidente de SIGNIS ALC y miembro del Comité directivo de SIGNIS Romero fue un pastor muy valiente, un denunciador de las injusticias que vivía su pueblo, que nosotros admiramos porque en su denuncia envuelve las realidades y las necesidades de los que más sufren en Latinoamérica.

Bruselas, abril de 2018 N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 13

Cinema

The SIGNIS jury gave its Prize at the Zanzibar Filmfestival to Love and Shukla, a film from India, directed by Jatla Siddartha.

SIGNIS at the Festivals Zanzibar

Mother at the Heart of the Family

Our cultures would be incomplete without the arts.

In July 2018, the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) celebrated its 21st anniversary. There is no doubt that ZIFF is a significant cultural event in East Africa, where filmmakers aspire to exhibit their creative output.

This year’s theme, “Speak Up and Be Heard”, attracted diverse films and participants from the Dhow countries and beyond.

The array of films that provided a spiritual and intellectual feast for audiences and juries was a relentless reminder that our cultures would be incomplete without the arts.

Issues related to the family, as the nucleus of society, were prominent in most of the films. Consistent with current realities, the importance of close family bonds, especially between mothers and their children was a focus. A mother’s absence means insecurity in the family.

This point is poignantly represented in Armstrong, a short directed by Omoruyi Irabor. A young arm wrestler

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takes on physically intimidating wrestlers in order to raise money for his dying mother’s hospital bill. This recurring cinematic device used to portray fathers and mothers is a reflection of the everyday life, and of how desperately society needs a more redemptive masculinity.

This concern is not limited to Africa, as seen in the Iranian film, Golnessa, by Sattar Chamani Gol. The film focuses on a young Afghan couple, undocumented immigrants, that find work in a brickmaking “factory.” Each of them responds differently to their challenging situation.

The love of Golnesa, who has made a great sacrifice to renounce her family to be with Golmammad, is not reciprocated because he is consumed by jealousy and revenge. The relationship devolves into a tragedy when Golmammad lays a trap for the foreman and Golnesa, whom he suspects of betrayal. Once again, the wife, who struggles to make a difficult relationship work, becomes the ultimate victim of her husband’s misdirected revenge scheme. The male-dominated environment feeds his ego and arrogance.

Kyemiyondo Coutinho represents the hope for a redemptive masculinity in an Ugandan experimental

Cinema film, Kyenvu. This film that received the SIGNIS Talent Award poetically tells the story of a liberated woman who unexpectedly finds love. She carefully chooses attire to impress her boyfriend on their first date. While on her way, she encounters urban louts, products of a male chauvinistic society, who read her attractive dress as a provocation. She is raped before her boyfriend arrives at the rendezvous.

What elevates this film above others viewed is the symbolic end when the despoiled and disconsolate woman sits naked in a bathroom all-drenched, desperately removing the bloodstains from her once beautiful but now ruined yellow outfit. The final frame shows the deeply affected boyfriend take the dress from her and struggle to remove the stains. Such male sensitivity to forms of violence against women is needed to restore women’s dignity.

Kyenvu suggests how men could be involved in healing and restoring women’s honor.

The SIGNIS jury gave its Prize to Love and Shukla, a film from India, directed by Jatla Siddartha. This film skilfully recounts the story of a newly married couple who search for some space and intimacy in a crowded oneroom “home” shared with their parents. From the initial anticipation of sex as the most immediate and intimate experience on their wedding night, this deprivation

of privacy leads the couple to grow in friendship and a deeper understanding of love as communication, care and tolerance. In the final sequence a perspective emerges that finds a new chapter of intimacy. The couple is no longer concerned with consummating their marriage but in growing in friendship. In a cultural context where marriages are arranged, the film, with a touch of humor, delicately underscores the value of communication in marriage.

Finally, the film that overpowered me with its grandeur and its spirituality is the Iranian Majan (Mother) by Rahman Seifi Azada. This is an archetypal story of a mother who unflinchingly speaks and acts out for the right of her severely disabled son to be treated with dignity and love inside the family, instead of following the father’s directives to have him taken to a sanatorium. Her decision leads to her husband divorcing her and attempting to drown the invalid child. This film brings to mind two African proverbs: “The mother of an ugly child keeps it on her back”; and, “An elephant never tires of carrying its tusks”. This ideal mother does not tire nursing her child.

She shields him from ridicule and indignity. She would rather bear the burden of her son’s weaknesses herself. It was no wonder that this compelling film won the Golden Dhow for Best Film from the Dhow Countries.

Speaking and actsing out for the right of a severely disabled son to be treated with dignity and love inside the family

Sr Dominic Dipio

CANNES Pope Francis – a Man of His Word Shown outside the competition at the Cannes 2018 film festival was Wim Wenders’ film, Pope Francis – a Man of His Word. Pope Francis offers the beginning of a Christian response to the plight of the stranger amongst us. Not so much a biography as a documentary highlighting his message, viewers hear the Pope reflect on today’s global issues. Central for him is our world’s inequality of wealth and with it the plight of the poor. Central as well is a call for social justice.

Some progressives at Cannes believed the movie was too “soft,” lacking a necessary criticism of the Pope’s response concerning feminism and sexuality. Others thought the film failed to provide personal insight – who is the man behind the robe? But neither were Wenders’s goal. Instead his focus in the film is on the Pope’s public theology – on how the church should address the rights of the migrant, global poverty, environmental destruction, lack of opportunity for youth, employment as a human right, and so on.

Wenders was given access to the Pontiff for several sit-down interviews which are effectively presented with the Pope centered, staring directly into the camera. These interviews are combined with Vatican news office footage from Pope Francis’s trips – whether they be a Brazilian street mass, a Central African Republic hospital, a Philadelphia prison, a Greek migrant camp, a Jerusalem holocaust memorial service, or a speech at the United Nation. Central throughout is the Pope’s call to take care of the stranger at the gate.

Perhaps the film is too laudatory, particularly given our cynical age. But given that film after film at the Festival evidenced a widespread melancholy and hopelessness present in society today, a film highlighting Pope Francis’s desires for humankind brought hope, at least to this Cannes participant.

Robert K. Johnston N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 15

Cinema Locarno/Karlovy Vary Film and Religion It seems that religion in all its dimensions is intriguing film producers today. At the 2018 Berlin Film Festival the public was very surprised to see in competition a film like The Prayer of Cédric Kahn. It was not a dull film, but it was about a community building – being for each other- and how spirituality can bring people back to find their lives’ meaning. In this particular case the subjects were drug addicts.

At the 71st Locarno Film Festival, two films in the main competition section dealt with the Inquisition in Italy (Menocchio by Alberto Fasulo) and ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel (M., by Yolande Zauberman). The festival’s most memorable film was Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, the story of a pastor who finds himself at the center of the plot.

It seems that religion in all its dimensions is intriguing film producers today.

The documentary #Female Pleasure (Critics Week section), by director Barbara Miller, focuses on the treatment of female sexuality in different religions. «#Female Pleasure» accompanies five women from five world religions. Barbara Miller shows her struggle for a selfdetermined female sexuality and for an equal, respectful coexistence among the sexes. The film portrays the worlds of Deborah Feldman, Leyla Hussein, Rokudenashiko, Doris Wagner and Vithika Yadav and their commitment to enlightenment and liberation in a hypersexualized, secular world. This documentary claims to depict world religions and their tendency to oppress the female body.

This approach does not succeed equally well for all five women. The reduction of Islam to genital mutilation in Africa is, for example, off-putting. Similarly, the fate of Doris Wagner, who lived for a long time in the intensely Catholic community, “The Work”, was to be abused by a priest there. Nevertheless, the basic message of the film is strong. Miller shows that change that curbs sexism and abuse is only possible when women and men work together to find new paths.

The Ecumenical Jury awarded its prize to the film Sibel (International Competition), which shows the emancipation of a young woman in Turkey in the face of oppressive traditions and rituals.

At the 53rd edition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival several films were screened that not only expressed a sensitivity to human values, but also highlighted religion and religious phenomena. Among them Geula (Redemption), winner of the Ecumenical Jury Award, is a good example. The film tells the story of a man, a very religious Hasid, whose daughter is undergoing an expensive treatment for cancer.

To find money to pay for it, he gathers his old friends to revive their band, which performs a mix of rock and traditional Jewish music. The group had had some success a few years earlier. At the time, he had married the fiancée of one of the other members of the group, before burning

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bridges and shutting himself up in religion. He then began to use the “religious argument” for everything: to forbid his wife to go out, to stop playing music, etc. By reconnecting with his friends, who do everything to help him, he realizes he has harms everyone, including God, by using religion for selfish ends.

GC/Charles Martig

Karlovy Vary La religion à l’écran À première vue, on ne s’attend pas à ce que des films sur et/ou avec des éléments religieux puissent être programmés par un festival de cinéma dans l’ancienne Europe communiste. Pourtant, lors de la 53ème édition du Festival de Karlovy Vary, on a pu assister à la projection de plusieurs films, qui non seulement exprimaient une sensibilité aux valeurs humaines, mais qui mettaient également en avant la religion et des phénomènes religieux. Il est dès lors intéressant de voir comment ces éléments religieux ont été portés à l’écran.

Geula (Redemption), le film primé par le jury œcuménique en est un bon exemple : le film raconte l’histoire d’un homme, un hassid très religieux, dont la fille suit un traitement onéreux contre le cancer. Pour trouver de l’argent, il fait appel à ses anciens amis pour relancer leur groupe de musique, un mix de rock et de musique juive traditionnelle, qui avait eu son petit succès quelques années plus tôt. A l’époque, il avait épousé la fiancée de l’un des autres membres du groupe, avant de couper les ponts et de s’enfermer dans la religion. Il a alors commencé à utiliser « l’argument religieux » pour tout : interdire à sa femme de sortir, arrêter de jouer de la musique, … En renouant contact avec ses amis qui font tout pour l’aider, il réalise qu’il a fait du tort à tout le monde, y compris à Dieu, en utilisant la religion à des fins égoïstes.

Dans la comédie-allégorie italienne Troppa grazia de Gianni Zanasi, le spectateur est confronté à l’apparence d’une Madone charnelle, habillée comme une réfugiée syrienne ou irakienne. Elle apparait à l’écran lorsqu’une jeune géomètre, Lucia, est confrontée à des anomalies dans son travail et qu’elle doit décider entre la fraude et la corruption ou la vérité. Elle commence alors à se battre littéralement avec la « Mère de Jésus » pour cette vérité…

La Madone demande que l’on construise une église au lieu d’un projet commercial dans des champs. Lorsque Lucia décide de rejeter la corruption, la Madone explique alors que l’église était en fait la préservation de la nature.

The Best Thing You can do with your Life est un portrait intime de la communauté des Légionnaires du Christ. A 19 ans, Lazio, d’une famille noble allemande, entre dans cette communauté au Connecticut aux Etats-Unis, alors qu’il avait juré à sa sœur, la réalisatrice Zita Erffa, de ne pas le faire. Tout au long du documentaire, elle va se

Cinema petite sagesse). Elle aborde un aspect peu connu de cette religion : le recrutement des prêtres bouddhistes. Elle suit deux enfants issus d’une famille pauvre qui sont envoyés peu de temps après leur naissance dans un monastère afin qu’ils puissent s’y instruire à moindre coût. Chaque année, des centaines de familles font la même chose, mais seuls quelques enfants poursuivent leurs études et la formation pour devenir moine bouddhiste. Son documentaire contemplatif renverse la notion romantique de ce que sont les bouddhistes : ce ne sont pas seulement des adultes qui se sentent maîtres d’eux-mêmes, ce sont d’abord des enfants, qui apprennent à s’adapter à la stricte discipline et au vivre-ensemble. D’ailleurs, beaucoup ne réussissent pas et quittent le monastère avant la fin de la formation.

demander pourquoi son frère a pris une telle décision. Un des prêtres lui explique que cette communauté est similaire à l’Opus Dei et que ses membres sont des personnes qui veulent christianiser le monde à travers leur pouvoir économique et politique. Après huit ans, la cinéaste reçoit enfin l’autorisation pour réaliser un documentaire sur son frère. En parlant avec son frère, Erffa met notamment en avant le fait que le fondateur mexicain des Légionnaires, le prêtre Marcial Maciel, décédé en 2008, a été accusé d’abus sexuels et qu’il avait eu deux femmes et plusieurs enfants. En 2006, le Pape Benoît XVI lui avait d’ailleurs demandé de renoncer à tout ministère public. Lazio répond que cela n’a aucune importance et que cela ne change rien à sa décision.

La cinéaste chinoise Yuqi Kang évoque quant à elle le bouddhisme dans son documentaire Xiao Shihui (La

Le western américain Hostiles de Scott Cooper, bien que très violent, est également une histoire de foi, de compassion et de paix. En effet, après que sa famille ait été entièrement tuée par des indiens, une jeune femme se réfugie auprès d’un officier, qui déteste les indiens.

Lorsqu’elle lui demande s’il croit en Dieu, il répond : « Oui, mais il semble être aveugle par la réalité. » Elle répond alors : « Si je n’avais pas la foi, que devrais-je avoir ? » et ajoute « Nous pouvons être assurés que Dieu se soucie de nous » (psaume 34 :12). Le film est en fait l’histoire d’un homme qui découvre qu’il était injuste visà-vis des indiens et retrouve peu à peu son humanité en comprenant ainsi le vrai message de la bible.

Il est intéressant de découvrir comment aujourd’hui des éléments religieux ont été portés à l’écran.

Ces films ne sont évidemment qu’un échantillon des films projetés au festival de Karlovy Vary, mais la majorité de la programmation était caractérisée par des films cherchant à montrer la quête des valeurs humaines, d’une cohésion sociale et d’un meilleur vivre-ensemble.

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MÉXICO

Festival Internacional de Cine de Guanajuato El Festival de Cine de Guanajuato sigue siendo de gran calidad y de muy variadas ofertas en actividades relacionadas con el cine y sus nuevos formatos. Uno de los grandes valores del Festival es el apoyo efectivo a jóvenes realizadores que ahí presentan sus trabajos.

Cada año, seis equipos de universidades del país son seleccionados por sus guiones para filmar un cortometraje en 48 horas en el Rally Universitario, después de cinco meses de capacitación que les ofrece gratuitamente la directiva del festival. Este año el primer premio fue para Máscara Mística, de la Universidad de Tecnología Avanzada, de San Luis Potosí, con una historia contra la violencia escolar. Para las universidades del Estado de Guanajuato, está el concurso Identidad y Pertenencia, de cine documental sobre tradiciones y personajes de esa tierra, donde también son seleccionados los mejores trabajos inscritos. En esta edición, la Universidad Iberoamericana de León obtuvo el primer lugar con Bastardos Desterrados, que da voz a jóvenes marginados a través de sus canciones en rap. El Festival también apoyó los mejores guiones para películas que se enviaron a concurso.

SIGNIS-México, ha estado presente en el Festival desde hace 15 años, con un jurado propio, valorando las películas en cortometraje de la selección oficial de Ficción internacional. Este año el Premio de SIGNIS-México fue para Fauve de Jeremy Comte (Canadá), conmovedora historia en la que dos niños juegan y compiten entre sí. La realidad implacable les habrá de cambiar la jugada, y les enseñará la fragilidad de la vida y el valor de la amistad, la responsabilidad y el arrepentimiento por encima de la competencia. La Mención Especial SIGNIS-México se le dio a Gaze (Negah) de Farnoosh Samadi (Irán), donde una mujer es testigo de robo en un autobús urbano. Su denuncia la deja con más vulnerabilidad e inseguridad en su condición de mujer, madre sola y trabajadora. El jurado de SIGNIS-México en esta edición XXI estuvo formado por Luis García Orso, S.J., Hugo Jesús Castro Mesta, periodista; y por Aldo Valdés López, Maestro en Industrias Culturales y docente.

Luis García Orso N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 17

Digital

Missionaries and the Digital World There is nothing more powerful than the force generated by networks of people united by the same ideal ...

Pauline Jaricot, founder of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, can be considered a pioneer of networking, because she understood, at only nineteen years of age, that if “one of the great problems experienced by missionaries in mission countries is in regard to economic limits”, then there is nothing more powerful than the force generated by networks of people united by the same ideal to resolve the dilemma. She simply understood the power of social networks and gave life to the first global social network.

This is what Jesus Colina, president and editorial director of Aleteia, said during his conference entitled, “Digital Revolution, Challenges and Opportunities for Missionary Animation”, at the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), which was held at the end of May, 2018 at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, near Rome.

Questioning those present about what Pauline Jaricot would do today in the era of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the web, he proposed that, “Her ability to create networks would have been stregthened in an explosive way”. He then presented some significant data on the use of the Internet and social networks and their anthropological implications, stating that, “We are faced with an immense anthropological impact”, so we must ask ourselves, “How does all this affect the missionary work of the church?”. Colina drew the attention to “How to make God present on the net? How to awaken missionary commitment?”.

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“Frequently we find baptized persons who recognize that they would like to share their faith, but they confess that they do not know how to do it”, said Colina. These people can become missionaries using networks “if someone helps them, if they are presented with interesting, easy to share content”.

“Communication networks, he continued, require an authentic conversion from all of us, which in our case we could call pastoral or missionary. We often run the risk of thinking that, since we proclaim the Truth, everyone should listen to us. There are no such arguments in the network”, he emphasized, explaining the three actions necessary for this conversion: listening, that is “social listening”, to know which are the most sought after topics, the ones most shared in the network; going out to meet, that is, finding people who need someone who speaks to them of God; and accompanying, referring to the time we dedicate to people.

Referring to the missionary encyclical “Redemptoris Missio”, he noted, “It is very curious, almost prophetic, that the most important and virtuous passage of the entire papal magisterium on communication networks was expressed in this encyclical”, where it states: “Involvement in the mass media, however, is not meant merely to strengthen the preaching of the Gospel....it is not enough to use the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church’s authentic teaching. It is also necessary

Digital to integrate that message into the “new culture” created by modern communications”. Recalling that “Benedict XVI lived this legacy in a coherent way”, he underlined how Pope Francis has asked the Church, on numerous occasions, “to be a companion in the journey of the life of the people it reaches through its own means of communication”.

Finally, Colina recalled that, in the past, the Pontifical Mission Societies were an example of how communication can be used to reawaken the missionary commitment, citing as examples the letters of Pauline Jaricot, the first audiovisual testimonies realized by the missionaries, and mission magazines. But “the digital revolution we witnessed over the last few decades seems to have caught us all by surprise. We have continued to rely on traditional means of raising awareness and fundraising. Perhaps we have been absent from the digital revolution. In this sense we can say that the Pontifical Mission Societies are at a historical moment: will they have the pastoral creativity of renewing themselves in the digital age and will they allow God and the mission to remain relevant in the lives of millions of people?”

LG/Fides Sr. Helena Burns, FSP. She was going to be an ornithologist, but she became a Daughter of St. Paul. She gives workshops to teens and adults on Media Literacy, Philosophy, and the Theology of the Body. She is also a movie reviewer. After having studied Media Literacy Education; philosophy and theology at St. John’s U, NYC; and Pastoral Youth Ministry at the Center for Youth Ministry Development, Naugatuck, CT, she studied screenwriting at UCLA and Act One, Hollywood. She is the writer/producer of www.MediaApostle.com and a co-producer on www.The40Film.com.

Africa, Vatican Communication Policy and the Digital World In his message to the Bishops of the AMECEA countries, Dr Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Communication of the Holy See, recalled that after the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops in 1994, AMECEA countries invested heavily in Diocesan Radio stations which were linked with Vatican Radio in Rome. It has been prophetic and served the Church of this region well. Dr Ruffini noted that the reform of the Vatican Media being carried out by the new Dicastery for communication since 2017 is beginning to bear fruit and today there is growing consolidation, collaboration and coherence among the Holy See’s different media outlets. He gave as example Vatican Radio, which until now interacted with the African radio stations in the AMECEA region, is now integrated into the Dicastery for Communication. It was a response to the world wide changing media landscape. Ruffini explained that the context that we are now living has seen significant digital media convergence. It is a reality that the Holy See could not ignore. On 4 May 2017, Pope Francis told the Dicastery’s first-ever plenary assembly that given the new digital culture throughout the world, digital media would need to be part of a primary platform for spreading the Gospel. Ruffini: “The Pope also made categorical his wish that attention and care be accorded to countries with little access to new digital technologies. The reform of the Vatican media would neither neglect nor abandon such countries - a significant number of which are in Africa.

Vatican Radio to this day continues to broadcast on new digital platforms but also maintains its traditional outlets such as shortwave frequencies for countries that still need this service”.

Message by Dr. Ruffini

The Pope also made categorical his wish that attention and care be accorded to countries with little access to new digital technologies.

EUROPE

Protection de la vie privée Depuis fin mai 2018, une nouvelle directive européenne est entrée en application. Elle prévoit de protéger davantage les informations que le citoyen livre aux entreprises.

Ce nouveau Règlement Général sur la Protection des Données, ou RGPD, a été largement combattu par les entreprises. Les eurodéputés ont voté cette nouvelle règlementation afin de garantir une meilleure protection de la vie privée des Européens face aux modèles américain ou chinois qui donnent beaucoup plus de latitude pour recueillir et utiliser des données personnelles. À compter du 25 mai, les entreprises, les organisations et les institutions - même en dehors de l’Europe ! - qui recueillent des données sur des Européens devront s’être assurées de leur « consentement éclairé ». Il est aussi prévu que le citoyen européen puisse exiger l’effacement de ses données, ou le droit de les récupérer pour les confier à une autre entreprise. Un principe connu sous le nom de « portabilité ».

Les Européens pourront également entamer des actions de groupe en justice contre ceux qui ne respectent pas le RGPD. Les entreprises, organisations ou administrations, doivent non seulement avoir un registre indiquant quelles données elles recueillent et quel traitement elles en font, mais aussi avoir un responsable de la protection des données. En cas de manquement, les entreprises risquent une lourde amende, allant jusqu’à 4 % de leur chiffre d’affaires mondial. Un risque qui s’applique à tous, y compris aux entreprises étrangères actives sur le marché européen. https://www.la-croix.com/Economie/Monde/LEurope-mieux-proteger-vie-privee-2018-05-24-1200941278

Info : La Croix

N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 19

Television

Salt & Light TV Staff with Fr Thomas Rosica (on right).

15 Years of Salt & Light What distinguishes us from many other Catholic Television Networks and broadcasting platforms is the youthful presence, leadership, and vision of the staff of Salt and Light

The first national Catholic television channel in Canada, Salt and Light, marked its fifteenth anniversary in 2018.

It was born on the wings of the 2002 World Youth Day in Canada and launched in July 2003. The network was the dream and vision of the late Gaetano Gagliano, an ItalianCanadian Catholic businessman who had a passion for communications and saw it realized at the age of 86 with the establishment of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. Gaetano died in 2016 at the age of 99.

The channel, based in Toronto, airs programming in several languages, predominantly in English, along with several French programs airing under the brand Télévision Sel et Lumière, as well as Italian and Chinese programs in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Salt and Light operates on numerous media platforms, including the Catholic Channel on Sirius Radio, YouTube, ROKU, and Social Media.

The name of the station is drawn from the theme of World Youth Day 2002, “You are the salt of the earth... you are the light of the world,” part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-14). Following his work as National Director and CEO of WYD 2002, Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB was invited to become the founding Chief Executive Officer of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation.

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Salt and Light programs range from daily news and current events to special features, cultural programs and films. Most programming falls into one of five categories: National and International Stories of Catholic Action and Social Justice; Stories of Catholic Communities; Learning and Faith Development; Prayer, Devotion, Meditation and Stories of the Saints and Blesseds; Liturgy, including daily Mass, Vatican ceremonies and Vatican events Salt and Light serves the francophone community in Canada and around the world through its branch office in Montreal, made possible through the generosity of the Archdiocese of Montreal. Soon it will have a small office in New York City.

“What distinguishes us from many other Catholic Television Networks and broadcasting platforms is the youthful presence, leadership, and vision of the staff of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. We were born from the dynamic vision, energy, and spirit of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada”, said Fr. Rosica.

Info: Salt & Light

Television SIGNIS at International TV festivals In 1958 Unda organized and conducted the first Rencontre Catholique Internationale de Télévision. TV networks and stations from eleven countries submitted a total of sixty-eight religious programmes. In the following years it became such a success that it inspired Prince Rainier in 1961 to launch the first International TV festival at Monte-Carlo (also known as the Festival du Prince). The festival received the full support of Unda, and in 1962 the Prince invited Unda to provide a special jury each year and award a special prize, the Unda Dove.

To commemorate the International Catholic presence (Unda/SIGNIS) at the festival, SIGNIS opened the Awards ceremony this year by recounting this history. The SIGNIS jury gave its Prize to the German TV film Der Polizist, Der Mord Und Das Kind by director Johannes Fabrick, produced by the German company Hager Moss Film. This film tells the true story of Carlos Benede, a police officer in the Victim Protection Department, whose life will be turned upside down by the case of Alexander, 11, who saw his father murder his mother.

According to the SIGNIS jury, “This film is very moving, because this police officer gives a personal response to the consequences of a current social problem (violence) that he faces daily during his work. On two occasions, he has

been involved with children traumatized by the murder of their mothers, and in both cases, he makes the generous decision to welcome them home and integrate them into his family. This film shows how a complicated personal past (Carlos Benede was raised by a nun as a result of his mother’s abandonment) can become a transformative experience that leads to confronting reality with a more engaged attitude to the problems and suffering of others.”

Similar to Monte-Carlo, in 1978 Unda was invited by Prix Italia to install an international Catholic jury at that international TV festival, organised by the Italian public radio and TV broadcaster RAI beginning in 1948. Prix Italia is an annual event held in September in a given Italian town or city known for its art and culture.

60 Years international catholic presence in the world of professional Television

This year the SIGNIS Prize was given to A Sea of Shame - Three Fathers and the Shipwreck that Changed Our History (Gedi Digital, Italy). This film recounts a tragic story, already familiar to its Italian audience, from a fresh perspective. Through excellent storytelling, the loss of hundreds of lives at sea is kept intimate by focusing on just three immigrant fathers and their families. Events gradually unfold in a way that maintains suspense, layered with appropriate emotion-laden imagery that reaches us at a deep affective level. The effect challenges the severe moral failure of individuals and nations to rescue a floundering vessel.

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ARGENTINA

Premio SIGNIS en el XIV FUND TV Para la organización FUND TV la Televisión es mucho más que un negocio. Es una herramienta de transmisión cultural indiscutible. Desde 2013 SIGNIS-Argentina viene otorgando el Premio SIGNIS a la Televisión nacional durante el Premio Fund TV a un programa que tome en cuenta el progreso humano, que reconozca los valores sociales y espirituales sin dejar de tener en cuenta el valor artístico y la pericia técnica que exhibe la producción. El premio de SIGNIS-Argentina fue otorgado a un programa de un noticiero local: Noticias Acequia del Canal TV Acequia de Mendoza -Televisión pública: “Por el predominio de la narración de los hechos, por sobre la opinión; por el tratamiento extenso y cuidado de los temas presentados, incluido el de la nieta recuperada por las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, destacando la importancia de la noticia, las novedades locales sensibles a los mendocinos (turismo, obras), con presentadores correctos, serenos y empáticos.”

Fund TV es una organización sin fines de lucro que surge en 1992 con el objetivo de incentivar la responsabilidad social de la televisión desde su impacto educativo. FUND TV organiza todos los años este premio que es una distinción con alcance federal, que fomenta la participación de producciones de todo el país. Se otorga a empresarios, anunciantes, productores y publicitarios que desde la televisión hayan realizado aportes constructivos a la sociedad. Su objetivo es concientizar sobre la influencia del medio, su rol educativo y su función social. Además de difundir y convocar a realizadores y productores de todo el país a presentar sus trabajos para ser evaluados y distinguidos.

N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 21

News

Jóvenes de once países latinoamericanos reunidos en la capital panameña

Primer encuentro SIGNIS ALC Joven en Panamá El primer encuentro presencial del programa SIGNIS ALC Joven ha reunido en Ciudad de Panamá a 18 jóvenes de 11 asociadas de SIGNIS en América Latina y El Caribe durante mayo de 2018 El encuentro contó con el apoyo permanente de la Arquidiócesis de Panamá.

Organización de cine-debates y encuentros artísticos; talleres sobre cultura y paz, emprendimiento, y campañas de voluntariado, experiencias positivas y valores fueron algunas de las propuestas que surgieron tras las intensas jornadas de trabajo.

Educomunicación, liderazgo, producción audiovisual, comunicación y valores, comunicación y democracia, e imagen y espiritualidad fueron algunos de los ámbitos en los que los jóvenes tuvieron la oportunidad de fortalecer sus conocimientos. Las capacitaciones corrieron a cargo de los directivos de SIGNIS ALC, entre los que estuvieron Carlos Ferraro (presidente) y María José Centurión (vicepresidenta), así como Jorge Villa (SIGNIS-Cuba), Lisa Bhajan (SIGNIS-Caribe), Alejandro Caro (SIGNIS-Chile) y Fernando Ruiz (APC-Perú). Asimismo, con el propósito de motivarlos a consolidar iniciativas dirigidas al afianzamiento del área joven de sus respectivas asociadas, los asistentes también participaron en un taller intensivo de realización de proyectos, bajo la supervisión del académico chileno Jaime Carril.

El programa SIGNIS ALC Joven continuará con las charlas virtuales impartidas cada mes, en las que destacados expositores disertan sobre distintas temáticas orientadas a los ámbitos que componen la misión de SIGNIS ALC (Buen Vivir, Laudato Si’) y la comunicación.

SIGNIS ALC Joven es un programa para la formación de jóvenes comunicadores líderes de entre 23 y 27 años, miembros de las asociadas nacionales de SIGNIS ALC. Su objetivo es que, a partir de una mirada crítica y cristiana sobre los desafíos de la realidad latinoamericana, los participantes se comprometan a emprender acciones enfocadas a la transformación, desde la comunicación.

SIGNIS ALC

BRASIL

El brasileño José Marques de Melo fue el primer Doctor en Periodismo titulado por una universidad brasileña en 1973, Docente-fundador de la Escuela de Comunicación y Artes de la Universidad de Sao Paulo (ECAUSP), y director de la cátedra UNESCO de Comunicación en la Universidad Metodista de Sao Paulo. En 2010 fue nombrado “Comunicador de la Paz” por SIGNIS ALC, en reconocimiento a su compromiso incansable para promover la justicia en su país. Marques de Melo fue uno de los fundadores, en 1969, de la Unión Cristiana Brasileña de Comunicación Social, UCBC, y luchó, junto a toda una generación de convencidos en el cambio social, por la democratización de la comunicación. Como comunicador vivió los momentos más duros de la dictadura militar, principalmente cuando fue impedido de ejercer la docencia en universidades públicas brasileñas de 1974 a 1979. Beneficiado por la Ley de Amnistía Política del año 1979, regresó a su cátedra en la USP. En una entrevista realizada en 2009, señaló que en la Iglesia solamente “algunos obispos y sacerdotes han demostrado interés y han apoyado y promovido el desarrollo de medios católicos y la reflexión en comunicación, como el caso de Monseñor Leonidas Proaño en Ecuador, Luciano Metzinger en Perú, y Avelar Brandão, Helder Cámara y Paulo Evaristo Arns en Brasil”.

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SIGNIS ALC

© Cicero Rodrigues

José Marques de Melo (1943-2018): comunicador de la Paz

News USA

Catholic Media Conference 2018 The annual gathering of the Catholic press in the US and Canada, organized by the Catholic Press Association (CPA), SIGNIS newest member organization in North America, was held in June in Green Bay Wisconsin. The event was well-attended by several hundred Catholic journalists and communications professionals, including diocesan directors of communication. The keynote address was given by Dr. Natasa Govekar (see photo), Director of Pastoral Theology for the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, and that body’s representative to the SIGNIS Board of Directors. Dr. Govekar presented the vision and activities of the Dicastery, notable for its fresh approach to engagement with the media in the context of the mission of the Church.

SIGNIS North America members were active during the conference, hosting two workshops. The first, facilitated

by Frank Frost and Larry Rich, Courageous Conversations, involved screening several short videos with challenging content and then discussing the potential audience impact and production approaches used. In the second workshop, Movies: A Pathway to Grace, participants viewed the film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and then Frank Frost and Sr. Rose Pacatte led a wide-ranging conversation about the human and spiritual values one might discover in the movie, and how such a discussion process can be used with other films.

The CPA hosted the Gabriel Awards ceremonies for the first time–previously it had been a project of the now-defunct Catholic Academy. Winners included several radio and TV projects of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; well-known US filmmaker Ken Burns’ series on the Vietnam War; and the TV Station of the Year, The Catholic TV Network, based in Watertown, MA, but airing nationally.

On the final day of the conference, SIGNIS North America members convened for a business meeting. The meeting became a longer conversation about new opportunities for collaboration with and within the CPA by SIGNIS members, such as World Communications Day, promoting an international perspective, revamping the Gabriel Awards, possibilities for film festivals, and more. An ensuing lively and productive discussion with CPA Executive Director Tim Walter, touched upon the changing nature of media consumption which challenges the Catholic media to become multi-platform, the demographics of the CPA, and the importance of young people and cinema education, to name a few. CPA is willing to host future conference calls to continue the conversation.

Larry Rich

ETHIOPIA The 19th Plenary Assembly of AMECEA The Bishops choose a challenging theme for their Assembly: “Vibrant Diversity, Equal Dignity and Peaceful Unity in God in the AMECEA Region”. Cardinal Berhanejesus said, “The Church role in building peace, justice and reconciliation is very crucial in the region and she wants her voice to be heard by all actors”. How can the voice of the Church be heard by all actors? Certainly through presenting the facts and daily witness, but also through a wise use of media. Dr Paolo Ruffini, the new Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication sent a message to the Assembly recalling the intense collaboration between Church-run radio stations in Africa and Vatican Radio, He looks forward to continued collaboration through the Vatican’s new digital platforms. SIGNIS has been an AMECEA partner from the very beginning, and it was a nice surprise during the Assembly to be reminded that at the initial AMECEA meeting (Dar-es-Salaam, 1961), the first of the seven points on the Agenda was: “The Church and the Media: establishment of a Regional TV, a Radio Station and a Printing press”. SIGNIS is involved in projects and shipping media equipment in almost all

the Region: Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and it hopes very soon to do so once again to Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan, Somalia and Djibuti (AMECEA affiliates).

Among the 300 delegates, the SIGNIS delegation was represented by Helen Osman, World President, Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vice-President, Ricardo Yáñez, Secretary General, and Maria Chiara De Lorenzo, General Manager of SIGNIS Services Rome.

Maria Chiara De Lorenzo

NIGERIA Strategic Planning Meeting of SIGNIS Africa Delegates and members of SIGNIS Africa, the Catholic Association for Communications, met for two days in July in Abuja, for a strategic management meeting. President of SIGNIS Africa, Fr. Prof. Walter C. Ihejirika, noted that the meeting was convened to conclude the ongoing review of the regional constitution, as well as to assist the Executive Board generate ideas towards the drafting of a clear roadmap for the continental body. Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo diocese, Nigeria, and the Episcopal Chairman N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 23

News MALAYSIA

SIGNIS Media Education for Students In June SIGNIS Malaysia organized a “Wassup Media” camp with two media education programs for about fifty adolescents in Port Dickson, in collaboration with St. Joseph’s Church, Sentul. Basic questions were raised such as: What is the purpose of media? Who creates media content?

Who influences changes in society?

The facilitators began by drawing from participants their experiences of media and a media-related lifestyle. Many said that media’s role was to inform and entertain, and a few shared that media “influences us” to some extent. Mr Augustine Loorthusamy stressed how values are distorted in a “media-mediated society.” “Constant exposure to media, new technologies and social networks has led to a worldview characterised by conspicuous consumption, which tells you to buy, buy and buy.

Narcissism – like self-love and selfies – and hedonism, which promotes a pursuit of pleasure. All these lead to unsustainable consumption resulting in a culture of death,” he said.

Raymund Jagan spoke about the impact of social media from a psychological point of view. He highlighted the risks and threats in social media; he also shared how teen users can protect themselves from falling victim to the negative aspects of the excessive usage of social media. Students had hands-on experience of the five key concepts of media literacy that enabled them to better understand the workings of the media in their local situation. A local journalist, also head of SIGNIS Malaysia, covered the fifth concept with an overview of the Malaysian media industry, its ownership and news priorities.

“These tailor-made local media exercises are an excellent tool for conscientising young people to become aware of the subtle media influence that will eventually shape them,” said Lawrence John (aka Eljay), Vice President of SIGNIS World, who co-facilitated the concepts session.

Info: SIGNIS Malaysia

The meeting resulted in a number of resolutions which were to be considered as priorities for the next three years.

Among these are: a) Formation of SIGNIS as a distinct association in all countries in Africa using the SIGNISNigeria model where possible. It is expected that before the end of 2019, every member nation of SIGNIS must have complied with this initiative. b) Ensure effective collaboration among the member associations of SIGNIS-Africa, the National/Continental Departments and Directorates of Communications, like CEPACS, the Regional/Continental Episcopal Conferences and with African Communication professionals working in the Vatican. c) To promote training and formation in African countries, through media education and mentorship of youths in this field. For this reason, CommLab (the youth wing of SIGNIS) and Research were added as major components of the Media Education Desk. The need was expressed to set up a SIGNIS Africa Foundation 24 – SIGNIS Media ­– N°3/2018

to promote creativity in communication and provide funding for Catholic media productions in the continent.

In the spirit of interreligious and ecumenical dialogues, the Delegates visited the National Mosque and the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja. The meeting concluded with a gala night dedicated to the 90th anniversary of SIGNIS. SIGNIS Africa

SUISSE Nouveau rédacteur en chef Le Suisse Pierre Pistoletti, 34

ans, est le nouveau rédacteur en chef de cath.ch depuis août 2018. Après un apprentissage (CFC) de médiamaticien à Sion, il a obtenu un Bachelor puis un Master en théologie à l’Université de Fribourg.

En 2014, il débute dans le journalisme tout en se formant comme journaliste multimédia au Centre de formation au journalisme et aux médias (CFJM) de Lausanne. Comme journaliste multimédia, il utilise dans son travail le texte et l’image, à savoir la photo et la vidéo. Il a introduit dans la rédaction de cath.ch de nouveaux outils de webjournalisme. Il remplace le Fribourgeois Maurice Page, qui occupait cette fonction depuis septembre 2012. Ce dernier continuera à travailler comme rédacteur au sein de l’équipe de cath.ch Info : Cath.ch

© Bernard Hallet

of Communication for the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), stressed that, “such review for correct strategizing as this, is essential for any association that aims at progressive and qualitative existence”. Bishop Denis Isizoh, Auxiliary Bishop of Ontisha Archdiocese and Episcopal Chairman for Social Communications, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) stressed that it was important to tell the stories of the many positive things happening in the continent. According to him, “… if we Africans do not tell our stories, no one will do it for us”. He also charged them to be balanced in their news reporting and avoid the peddling of fake news.

News VATICAN Nouveau directeur d’I.Media Depuis fin juillet 2018, le journaliste français Arthur Herlin est le nouveau directeur et rédacteur en chef d’I.MEDIA à Rome, une agence d’information spécialisée sur le Vatican. Après des études à l’Institut supérieur de la communication, de la presse et de l’audiovisuel (ISCPA) de Paris, Herlin devient journaliste au service de communication de l’Armée de Terre française. Il a ensuite contribué dès 2015 au développement du pure player d’informations Aleteia. A ce titre, il a couvert toute l’actualité de l’Eglise en France et a effectué notamment un reportage en Syrie. En 2016, il travaille à Rome au service de l’agence I.MEDIA pour couvrir l’actualité du Saint-Siège mais aussi assumer des missions commerciales.

Herlin succède à l’ancien directeur de la rédaction de Famille Chrétienne à Paris, Aymeric Pourbaix, qui a dirigé I.MEDIA à Rome ces deux dernières années.

Société du groupe Média-Participations à Paris, fondée dans les années 1990 par le journaliste français JeanMarie Guénois, l’agence de presse I.MEDIA est devenue une référence sur le Vatican.

Info : Cath.ch

CAMEROUN

Nouvelle radio catholique Mi-juin, la station radiophonique Christ-Radio, fondée par le père Hervé Marie de la Communauté de Saint Jean a officiellement commencé à émettre sur la fréquence 102 FM. Pour l’instant, il y a trois émissions par jour. Le reste du temps est meublé par de la musique religieuse. Située dans le quartier Messamendongo de Yaoundé, la radio a été fondée grâce aux dons de fidèles.

Le terrain a été offert par une habituée de « Christade », la plus grande campagne d’évangélisation catholique au Cameroun, également organisée par le père Hervé.

Le matériel de la radio provient des cotisations d’autres fidèles qui participent à « Christade ». Pour l’instant, le père Hervé Marie est le seul employé de Christ-Radio. Il a introduit un dossier au ministère de la communication qui lui a attribué la fréquence 102 FM. Il compte recruter du personnel professionnel et gérer tous leurs droits sociaux selon la loi du travail du pays. Le père Hervé Marie est arrivé au Cameroun il y a une trentaine d’années. Pour lui, Christ-Radio est une nouvelle aventure évangélique après sa participation à différentes émissions sur les chaînes de télévision publiques et privées du Cameroun.

Info : DiaTV-Info

TCHAD

Radio Arc-en-ciel fête son 1er anniversaire Mi-juillet, le directeur de la radio communautaire Arc-enciel, Abbé Sylvain Ndingatoloum, a fêté le 1er anniversaire de la radio. Pour l’occasion, il a rappelé que c’était une radio qui éduque l’homme selon sa conscience, la vie de l’Eglise et de la société. C’est une radio communautaire et non confessionnelle au service de la promotion des valeurs humaines, chrétiennes et du développement en évangélisant, éduquant et informant. La radio sert de liaison entre les chrétiens catholiques et la hiérarchie ainsi que les hommes de bonne volonté de toutes confessions religieuses. La radio dispose d’un petit budget et d’un nombre limité de personnel.

Info : Lepaystchad.com

EGYPTE

Prix du festival du Centre Catholique du Cinéma Depuis 1952, le Centre Catholique du Cinéma organise annuellement son festival au Caire, considéré comme l’événement cinématographique le plus important du pays. Le centre et le festival sont dirigés par le Père franciscain Botros Daniel. Cette année, le jury présidé par le cinéaste égyptien Samir Seif, a honoré des acteurs de premier plan tels que Laila Elwi, Hassan Hosny, Rashwan Tawfik, Laila Taher, Mahmoud Kabil et Enaam Salousa.

Parmi les films primés, on retient notamment Akhdar Yabes (Vert flétri) et Mawlana (Le Prédicateur). Ce dernier raconte l’histoire d’un prédicateur religieux influent devenu une célébrité télévisuelle. Sa crédibilité est ébranlée lorsqu’il se rapproche de politiciens et d’agences de sécurité. L’acteur principal, Amr Saad, a remporté le prix du meilleur acteur, son scénariste Ibrahim Eissa, celui du meilleur scénariste et son réalisateur, Magdy Ahmed Aly, celui du meilleur réalisateur. Akhdar Yabes, de Mohamed Hammad, s’intéresse à Iman, une jeune femme vivant dans une société orientale. Elle essaie de convaincre ses oncles de rencontrer le prétendant de sa sœur à la place de leur père décédé. Cependant, Iman reçoit des nouvelles médicales qui l’amènent à repenser sa vie et à remettre en question ses croyances. L’actrice Heba Aly, qui interprète Iman, a reçu le prix de la meilleure actrice. Le réalisateur Mohamed Hammad a obtenu le prix (ex-aequo) du meilleur réalisateur.

GC

N°3/2018 – SIGNIS Media ­– 25

News BRASIL

ESPAÑA

Premio Margarita de Plata

Rafael Ortega Benito continúa como presidente de UCIPE

Kiwxi – Memoria, Martirio y Misión de Vicente Cañas, cortometraje documental sobre la vida y testimonio misionero del jesuita Vicente Cañas en la selva brasileña, fue merecedor del Premio Margarita de Plata (cine) que entrega anualmente la Conferencia Nacional de Obispos de Brasil (CNBB). La película dirigida por el sacerdote Cireneu Kuhn (Verbo Divino) es el segundo documental de la serie La vida por la amazonía producido por la Red Eclesial Panamazónica, con la coordinación de SIGNIS ALC. El documental recupera el testimonio misionero del religioso jesuita español Vicente Cañas, asesinado en Mato Grosso en 1987. Cañas asumió de tal modo la cultura y el estilo de vida de los pueblos indígenas Enawenê-Nawê, a quienes acompañaba en el proceso de demarcación de las tierras indígenas, que su compromiso fue mal visto por los terratenientes, quienes ordenaron asesinarlo.

El Premio Margarita de Plata que otorga la CNBB fue instituido en 1967, para reconocer la producción cultural libre del país que promueven valores humanos y sociales.

El documental Kiwxi recibió también el trofeo “Ir. Dorothy”, por ser la producción más votada en las redes sociales.

SIGNIS ALC

Rafael Ortega Benito ha sido reelegido presidente de la Unión Católica de Informadores y Periodistas de España (UCIPE), que incorporó a su Junta Directiva a la redactora de COPE Laura Otón y al director de medios del Arzobispado de Madrid, Rodrigo Pinedo. Además, han revalidado sus cargos como tesorero, Víctor Cortizo; y como secretario general, Álvaro de la Torre Gil. En la nueva Junta Directiva desempeñarán las labores de vicepresidente primero el decano de la Facultad de Comunicación del CEU, José María Legorburu; y como vicepresidenta segunda Elsa González, ex presidenta de la FAPE. José Gabriel Vera Beorlegui seguirá siendo el consiliario, según ha informado en un comunicado la UCIPE. Entre los vocales de la Junta continúa Manuel María Bru, sacerdote y periodista director de Crónica Blanca, y delegado de Catequesis del Arzobispado de Madrid; con las nuevas incorporaciones de Laura Otón y Rodrigo Pinedo. UCIPE es miembro de SIGNIS desde 2017, por acuerdo de la Asamblea de Delegados de SIGNIS realizada en Quebec, Canadá.

Info: Europa Press

ARGENTINA

Producciones para radio y documentales sobre Monseñor Angelelli En vísperas de la conmemoración del 42 aniversario del asesinato de Monseñor Enrique Angelelli, quien fuera obispo de La Rioja, Argentina, SIGNIS ALC comparte la serie radiofónica que recupera su vida y misión pastoral junto a los más pobres y excluidos. La serie para radio de 24 capítulos, de entre diez y doce minutos, es una producción del Centro de Comunicación Nuestra Señora de Luján, del Arzobispado de Buenos Aires. Este radio drama ofrece una retrospectiva de la vida del obispo riojano y de su ministerio pastoral profético, asesinado el cuatro de agosto de 1976 en un simulado accidente de tráfico de carretera, en momentos en que Argentina vivía una grave crisis social y política, así como una escalada de violencia de estado impuesta por la dictadura. La producción de esta serie sale al aire luego de que el papa Francisco anunciara la próxima beatificación del obispo Enrique Angelelli, junto a los sacerdotes Carlos Murias y Gabriel Longueville, y el laico Wenceslao Pedernera, tras reconocer su martirio en odio de la fe. La serie radiofónica está disponible en la audioteca de SIGNIS ALC, en la categoría de Profetas de nuestro tiempo. En 2006, los cineastas Fernando Spiner y Víctor Laplace realizaron el largometraje documental sobre la vida del obispo riojano: Angelelli, la palabra viva.

SIGNIS ALC 26 – SIGNIS Media ­– N°3/2018

Books SIGNIS in the Philippines In 1980 the OCIC and Unda World Congress was held in Manilla. It was a major event for the country and for Asia. At that moment the members in the Philippines of Unda, OCIC and the Catholic Press Association were working closely together. They were proud of this unity among Catholic communicators. Due to the Southeast Asian Bishops, Radio Veritas-Asia had been established in the country in 1969. It helped to spread democratic values in the region and in the country itself.

At the foundation of SIGNIS in 2001 in Rome, Bernard Canaberal (see photo) as president of OCIC Philippines and Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ, of Unda Philippines, became the founding fathers of SIGNIS Philippines. Canaberal became member of the first SIGNIS Asia board, and Fr Reuter appointed Ms. Delia Hernandez, President of the Philippine Association for Media Education (PAME) as President of SIGNIS Philippines. PAME was at that time and still is the principal media literacy organisation in the country, established in 1989. The following year, the Philippines hosted the very first SIGNIS Asia Assembly with the theme, “Pathways to Media Education”. In 2005, Ms. Hernandez was elected Secretary of SIGNIS Asia and Fr Reuter appointed Ms Erlinda So of Notre Dame de Vie, manager of Radio Veritas-Asia, as President of SIGNIS Philippines.

It was only in 2010 that SIGNIS Philippines had a formal election of officers to its board, and Canaberal was elected President. A General Assembly was then held. In 2011 the constitution of the organisation was finally drafted as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Bishop Cortez, head of Social Communication and Mass Media for the Bishops approved it. A year later it became known that Propaganda Fide no longer considered the country as a mission territory, which meant the loss of a lot of funding, and the relatively newly formed SIGNIS Philippines was confronted with a financial crisis and a loss of membership. UNDA/OCIC, now SIGNIS, was looked to for many years as a funding agency, not as an association that called for belief in its core values, mission and vision.

Solutions could be found. TV Maria then went on the air with their new segments.

In 2016, the “Mission, Vision, Goals” was revisited with Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, DD, the new head of the Episcopal Commission of Social Communication, which joined SIGNIS Philippines and what remained of the members. In January 2018, SIGNIS hosted a forum entitled Catholic Media in Challenging Timess, attended by more than 500 people, coming from academia, the youth sector, lay and religious organizations, and media practitioners. Today SIGNIS Philippines continues to hold successful training events and seminars.

Bernard F. Canaberal

The Discursive-material Knot Nico Carpentier New York, 2017 ISBN 978-1-4331-3753-2 In 1963, three years after its independence, the intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots started and brought an end Turkish Cypriot representation in the republic.

The result was that twenty years later, the conflict resulted in a partitioning of the island into Greek and Turkish sectors.

The author makes an analysis of the role that the Cyprus Community media Center (CCMC) and its web-radio station MYCY plays and can play as participatory community media in the solution of the Cyprus Problem. They facilitate the participation of Cypriots (and nonCypriots) in the structure of these media and even radio broadcasting. This is

the first time that for Cyprus the role of community radio and peacebuilding has been studied in this way. It is a work of inclusivity, equality and diversity, an effort to avoid classifying people as “other,” or to see some as superior and others as inferior.

It is a complex process of bringing people together from different communities into one, assembled community.

Carpentier’s approach and research is interesting and can be a help to analyse similar situations of community radio stations in countries dealing with ethnic/ cultural conflicts. He uses consistently the constructionist paradigm, and as such the book is deeply invested in the poststructuralist theory.

The book is a combination of high theory and empirical research, which makes it not an easy read for those who are practitioners, but it will, thanks to the theoretical framework, open new insights to them.

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29.10.– 4.11.2018 INTERNATIONALES LEIPZIGER FESTIVAL FÜR DOKUMENTAR- UND ANIMATIONS-