Beyond Citizen Kane (1993)

Directed by

Simon Hartog

Genre

documentary film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 45m

Rated

12A

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 31 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1993 British documentary examines how the large Brazilian media group Globo has built up its power and influence. The film compares founder Roberto Marinho to the character Charles Foster Kane and shows how his company has used news manipulation to shape public opinion.

informativecriticaleye-openingmeasureddocumentary-stylesoberinganalytical

What happens

Beyond Citizen Kane is a 1993 British documentary film directed by Simon Hartog, produced by John Ellis, and first broadcast on Channel 4. It details the dominant position of the Globo media group, the largest in Brazil, and discusses the group's influence, power, and political connections. Globo's president and founder Roberto Marinho was criticised and compared to the fictional newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane, created by Orson Welles for the 1941 film Citizen Kane. According to the documentary, Marinho's media group engages in manipulation of news to influence public opinion. TV Globo (known as Rede Globo at the time of filming) objected to the film's position and tried to buy Brazilian rights, but Hartog had already made agreements to give non-television rights to political and cultural groups in Brazil. However, the documentary cannot be broadcast on television in Brazil since it contains large sections of footage owned by Globo. Nevertheless, copies sold in Britain reached Brazil in the 1990s and circulated widely there. In addition, since the internet boom of the early 21st century, the film has been released on video-sharing websites such as YouTube and Google Video. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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