The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) has responded to the first trailer for an upcoming film alleging Macedonia is the hub for fake news generation. ‘Selling Lies’ is a documentary short about the network of teenagers in Macedonia whose fake political news stories allegedly made a direct impact on the 2016 U.S presidential election.
The film is produced by actor Morgan Freeman’s company Revelations Entertainment, in partnership with Academy Award-nominated director Leslie Iwerks.
Metodija A. Koloski, President of the United Macedonian Diaspora, said:
“Look, let’s be crystal clear about this: the involvement of Macedonian computer experts in the 2016 U.S presidential election warrants exploration and discussion. This documentary short should be welcomed for pushing that discussion into the mainstream, and certainly much more than it currently is.”
“The problem, or certainly the issue we’ve taken from the trailer, is the first mention of Macedonia borders on poor porn. Rustic buildings and well worn tower blocks. That’s not the country I know, and I sincerely hope the film does more to build on Macedonia’s strengths and cultural heritage.”
“To blame a group of tech-savvy kids for the 2016 election result insults pretty much anyone who knows anything about the study of elections. The public aren’t that stupid to buy into everything on the internet and the U.S media not so appalling that they can’t report on the news properly.”
“Every single country in the world has towns that are poorer than their neighbours, more deprived than other countries and populated by those who observe and break the law. It is outright slander, as I hope this film avoids this, to portray Macedonia as some backwards Balkans country where anyone will do anything for money.”
Veronika Tomova, UMD’s Director based in Skopje, Macedonia, said:
“What is unacceptable here, and what I sincerely hope this documentary takes care to measure, is condemning all of Macedonia and presenting it as some backwater country interfering in a proxy war between the United States and Russia.”