Pongo Film's statement on media reports

2023-09-04 16:08:04

Due to current media reports, Pongo Film feels compelled to make the following statement

Vienna (OTS) – The allegations in connection with the current production “Short – The Film”, according to which interview partners were allegedly lured under “false pretenses”, are false and are resolutely rejected.

All interviewees were informed of the topic well before the start of the interview and given specific lists of questions. This is a process that is customary in the industry for serious productions, which was also observed here. The interviewees were also informed in the initial inquiries that a “documentary film about the events of Austrian politics in recent years, with a special view of Sebastian Kurz” (where the name “Sebastian Kurz” was highlighted in bold) should be shot. The fact that the main topic concerns Sebastian Kurz’s political career was also communicated verbally and, in the director’s opinion, was clear to everyone. In some cases, the interviewees were also shown a first trailer from spring 2023, which also clearly had Sebastian Kurz as its content. In addition, the interviewees are neither taken out of context nor presented in a way that counteracts their critical statements.

It should be noted that an international co-production with a streaming provider was originally planned and negotiations have taken place in this regard. In the course of the shooting, however, it was decided to rely on an exploitation in the cinema and only pass the film on to a streamer in the second exploitation channel. This is also a normal process in such film productions.