''Czechoslovakia 1968'' (also known as ''Czechoslovakia 1918-1968'') is a 1969 short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about the " Prague Spring", the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. The film was produced by the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bil ...

(USIA) under the direction of Robert M. Fresco and

Denis Sanders Denis Sanders (January 21, 1929 – December 10, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer who directed the debut performances of Robert Redford and Tom Skerritt in the 1962 film '' War Hunt''. He won two Academy Awards, ...

and features the graphic design of Norman Gollin. It won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Short Subject and in 1997, was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

having been identified as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Controversy

In 1972, Senator James L. Buckley obtained a copy of ''Czechoslovakia 1968'' to show on New York television stations. The chairman of the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...

J. William Fulbright James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...

, objected to the broadcast based on an interpretation of the

Smith–Mundt Act The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 80-402), popularly called the Smith–Mundt Act, was first introduced by Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD) in January 1945 in the 79th Congress. It was subsequently passed by ...

, 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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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.

Accolades

*1970 - Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject1970, Oscars.org
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References

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 , pages 656-657
''Czechoslovakia 1968''
at the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

*
The film in its entirety on YouTube
*
Czechoslovakia 1918–1968
' on

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

{{AcademyAwardBestDocumentaryShort 1961–1980 1969 films 1969 documentary films 1969 short films 1960s short documentary films American anti-communist propaganda shorts American short documentary films Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Czechoslovakia–United States relations Documentary films about the Cold War Films directed by Denis Sanders Films scored by Charles Bernstein Films set in 1968 Films set in the Czech Republic Films set in Slovakia Prague Spring United States Information Agency films United States National Film Registry films Collage film 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Controversy

Accolades

See also

References

External links