Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-11-17

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

Last Updated: Monday, 17-Nov-97 10:34:39

CONTENTS

[01] Holbrooke Review

[02] Economy Review

[03] Patriarch Review

[04] 38th International Film Festival

[05] Gavras Review

[01] Holbrooke Review

The three men met at the Ledra Palace hotel, in the "green zone" that separates Turkish-occupied from free Nicosia.

Holbrooke said no breakthroughs were expected in the long-running Cyprus dispute.

And, as we hear in this report, he said the US has made foreign policy mistakes in the past.

Holbrooke had a series of meetings with Greek and European officials in Brussels Thursday.

Sources say the US envoy urged Greece and the European Union to open the EU door to Turkey.

Holbrooke met with Greek alternate foreign

minister Giorgos Papandreou and deputy foreign minister Yiannis Kranidiotis.

He also met with European Commission Hans van den Broek, Nato secretary Javier Solana, and a Russian diplomat.

Papandreou says the Greek side made it known that Turkey's EU prospects depend on the resolution of the Cyprus issue and improvement in Greek- Turkish relations.

Kranidiotis says Holbrooke briefed the Greek side on his recent contacts with Turkish leaders in Ankara and discussions in Cyprus.

Sources say Holbrooke wants Greece and the EU to open the EU door to Turkey, if Turkey stops threatening to annex the occupied territory in Cyprus...if Cyprus talks to join the EU start next year as planned.

But Papandreou would not confirm that Holbrooke had anything new to offer. He told reporters to ask the American diplomat.

[02] Economy Review

The finance minister said Wednesday that Pasok's policies over the past four years are paying dividends, that all the numbers look good, and the investment and consumer picture is bright.

Speaking in parliament Wednesday evening, the prime minister defended his budget against critics that say it's too lean, too hard on people's wallets.

Kostas Simitis said that over the past four years, real wages have gone up an average of 1.9 per cent.

But opposition parties slammed the government's policies.

New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis said the budget is tax-grabbing and will lead nowhere.

What's needed to save the economy, he thinks, is a massive privatisation programme and good housekeeping where the state's finances are concerned. New Democracy is the party to do all that.

Karamanlis wants more clarity when it comes to state finances.

Former New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert said the government overestimates its income in advance of every fiscal year, and overestimates its outlays. He added that this year the budget will be 2.4 billion dollars short.

Political Spring leader Antonis Samaras called the 1998 budget a tax storm, which reveals that government policies are bankrupt.

[03] Patriarch Review

At the ecology conference at the church of Agia Varvara, Vartholomeos showed why he's sometimes called the Green Patriarch.

He told those gathered that every act that pollutes the environment is a sin.

Among those also at the event, were Bruce Bobbit, the US secretary minister also known for his green affiliations; and Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.

On Sunday morning, patriarch Vartholomeos took part in a divine liturgy attended by thousands of the orthodox faithful at the LA Convention Centre.

[04] 38th International Film Festival

This year, the fest is going back to its roots. It will be held at the Olymion Cinema, which has been restored.

Movies from the Balkan countries stand out in the international section.

There are also many other European films, and eleven entries in the Greek section.

This year's festival will feature special tributes to Greek actress Irini Pappa and Takis Kanellopoulos.

[05] Gavras Review

Starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman, the film looks at the role the media and publicity play in people's lives.

In "Mad City", John Travolta, the guard at a Natural History Museum in a small California town, takes a group of students and the museum's curator hostage when he gets the sack.

He hopes that his act will help him get his job back.

An ordinary man who's reaction to a setback would be considered extreme by most people.

"I think planet earth is like this. People are good basically, and they end up doing sometimes bad things, especially when they get confused".

While Travolta takes the hostages to save his job, journalist Dustin Hoffman, at the museum when the drama begins to unfold, seizes on the story as a chance to promote his career.

Reflecting on his role, Hoffman says,

"I talked to another person once, a photographer.

He said, you don't understand, but maybe I can. He says that when you're in your work, you're in your work, right ? I said, yes. He says when we're shooting and we're looking through that, it's different, it's different. If you're watching an actual murder, or if you're watching someone getting hit by, it's different. It's hard to explain. It's in frame, it becomes our work. It gets separated from life".

The question is: will the reporter do his job right, or will he sacrifice the truth for success?

That's the main question posed by the movie.

Gavras believes that television, the media have a great responsibility visavis their public. He also thinks that their doing a worse and worse job or living up to that responsibility as time goes by.

Gavras talked about his directing philosophy in his latest work at a forum organised by the Greek Studies Department at Columbia University.

Columbia theatre professor Marina Kotzamani says some 650 people attended the event. She adds that

his film was a smash hit with the audience.

(c) ANT1 Radio 1997

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