Czechoslovakia 1968
Czechoslovakia 1968 (also known as Czechoslovakia 1918-1968) is a 1969 short documentary film about the "Prague Spring", the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.[5] The film was produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA) under the direction of Robert M. Fresco and Denis Sanders and features the graphic design of Norman Gollin.[6]
Czechoslovakia 1968 | |
---|---|
Directed by | Denis Sanders and Robert M. Fresco [1] |
Produced by | Denis Sanders and Robert M. Fresco [2] |
Music by | Charles Bernstein [3] |
Edited by | Marvin Wallowitz |
Production company | Sanders/Fresco Film Makers for U.S. Information Agency[4] |
Distributed by | Ocean Releasing |
Running time | 14:36 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject [7] and in 1997, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress having been identified as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[8] [9]
Controversy
In 1972, Senator James L. Buckley obtained a copy of Czechoslovakia 1968 to show on New York television stations.[10] The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, J. William Fulbright, objected to the broadcast based on an interpretation of the Smith–Mundt Act, which would prohibit the domestic dissemination of material produced by the USIA. Fulbright complained to the Attorney General, but the Justice Department refused to intervene based on the interpretation of existing US law. In 1972, Congress amended the Smith-Mundt Act, based on this event, to explicitly prohibit the domestic dissemination of materials produced by the USIA. The USIA was abolished in 1999.[11]
Accolades
References
- Czechoslovakia 1968-1969-National Archives Catalog
- Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars
- Charles Bernstein-Biography
- Czechoslovakia 1968-U.S. National Archives on YouTube
- Norman Gollin-IMDB
- Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969-US National Archives on YouTube
- "New to the National Film Registry". Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- "Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- TV: U.S.I.A. Propaganda-NY Times
- 1970|Oscars.org
External links
- "Czechoslovakia 1968" essay by Robert M. Fresco at National Film Registry
- "Czechoslovakia 1968" essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 656-657
- Czechoslovakia 1968 at IMDb
- The film in its entirety on YouTube
- Czechoslovakia 1918–1968 on MUBI