Polish directors attack reality TV

WARSAW, Poland -- Polish film directors urged government regulation of reality TV shows on Tuesday, voicing their disapproval of the growing trend.

Directors such as Oscar winner Andrzej Wajda, say the shows could have adverse effects on "morally defenceless" young viewers, according to the letter published in Poland's largest daily, Gazeta Wyborcza.

"The shows become more and more drastic. They sell more and more intimate spheres of life," the directors said.

They asked the National Council for Radio and Television to ban Amazons, a new show planned by Polsat, one of Poland's leading commercial televison stations. The show will keep cameras on six couples as they flirt with one another and change partners.

Polish commercial television stations have cashed in on the reality TV craze spreading across Europe and the United States.

A Polish version of Big Brother, which keeps cameras trained on activities of people confined to a house was widely popular as reflected by the viewer statistics.

Hints of sexual content and the popularity of such shows has caused controversy among intellectuals in Roman Catholic Poland.

TV broadcasters defend the shows. Polsat President Zygmunt Solorz said: "One cannot hold it against us that we deliver our viewers their favourite entertainment," Reuters reported.

"We won't show any sexual scenes in Amazons, even if there are some," he added.

The broadcast council has condemned Big Brother and a similar show, Two Worlds, for "stupidity, vulgarity and primitivism." The council has promised to monitor the shows, but has not taken any further action.