Zuzana Límová (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
The management of the Slovak Radio that is part of the public-service broadcaster RTVS halted the broadcast of an interview with Zuzana Límová, who is the director of Before I Met You documentary, the Sme daily reported.
This documentary, screened recently at the One World festival of documentaries, describes unethical practices in three Bratislava birthing and maternity clinics falling under the University Hospital Bratislava (UNB). Límová is one of the three mothers who tell their stories of giving birth in them.
Film reviewer and journalist Peter Konečný conducted the interview with Límova, which was to be part of his regular Sunday programme, In Cinema with Peter Konečný. Instead, one of the older shows was repeated.
The broadcaster’s argument was that at the time of its recording Konečný did not know the opinion of the hospitals concerned, according to RTVS spokeswoman Erika Rusnáková.
“Thus, solely the arguments from one side, i.e. the mothers, would have been presented,” Rusnáková explained for Sme.
The programme is meant to be about films, and not newscast, Límová reacted for the daily.
“The interview was about female directors who finished their movies recently, it was not a news-filled interview,” she added, as quoted by Sme.
The radio news department of RTVS is led by Petra Stano Maťašovská from the beginning of October. In the past five years she worked – save for a few months – as spokesperson of the UNB. She claims, though, not to have known about the halted interview.
After the release of the film, the CEO of the UNB said it was not based on truth and was biased, adding that it shows just one side of obstetrics. The former hospital management wanted to prevent the documentary from being shown after they saw some excerpts. They did not like it, without specifying what precisely was wrong according to them, Límová alleges.
At the festival, her film was the most popular among visitors and they voted for it to be screened a second time.
