Welcome in Greece, Mr. Marshall

The Marshall Plan (1948-1952) for economic aid to Europe after WWII included the condition that the beneficiary country open its market to US cultural exports, especially its films, seen as the lynchpin of US foreign policy to increase US influence in the world. US entertainment films weakened European culture. US policy intended to use the flood of films to spread and promote in Europe the American way of life, a popular culture replete with unbridled sentimentality, black and white values, hysterical simplicity, and a quest for innovation. The people of European countries were led to perceive their own cultures as obscurantist and to accept American criteria as the only modern, enlightened and moral criteria. The campaign was to drip-feed the principles of Americanism into their soul. This foreign policy has been carried out successfully since 1945, but it conceals dangers if it manages to push this logic to its conclusion: no form of cultural diversity will remain.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Cinematography: Stamatis Yannoulis, Laurent Fenart
Editing: Fani Ziozia
Sound: Dinos Kittou
Production: Cyclope Productions Greece T. +30 210 7258 127 F. +30 210 7249 871 cyclope@otenet.gr
Producers: Olga Abazoglou
Co-production: ARTE GEIE & ERT SA Hellenic Broadcasting Corp.
Format: DigiBeta Color-B&W
Production Country: Greece-France
Production Year: 2007
Duration: 55
Contact: WGBH International, USA Tom Koch T. +1 617 300 3893 F. +1 617 779 7900 tom_koch@wgbh.org www.wgbh.org
With the support of the MEDIA Program of the EU

Angelos Abazoglou

An actor and filmdirector, angelos abazoglou studied theater and filmDirection at the Institut national Superieur des Arts du Spectacle in Brussels, Belgium. He honed his acting skills at the Theatre de l’Acte de Toulouse-Grenier in toulouse, France. He has directed theatrical plays, documentary films and TV commercials.

Filmography

Selected
1996 Tomorrow Things Will Be Better
1998 Olive Oil, Water and Tomato (short)
2002 Art Cinema
2003 The Icon
2005 Zaharoff, Agent of Death
2007 Murder at the Agora
2009 Welcome in Greece, Mr. Marshall
2011 Mustafa’s Sweet Dreams