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Czechoslovakia 1968
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Wikipedia article
'Czechoslovakia 1968' (also known as 'Czechoslovakia 1918-1968') is a 1969 short documentary film about the "Prague Spring", the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjdfzbnOsZc Czechoslovakia 1968-U.S. National Archives on YouTube] 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.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1595245/ Norman Gollin-IMDB]
It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izmbt6C7XN0 Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969-US National Archives on YouTube] 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".
Controversy
In 1972, Senator James L. Buckley obtained a copy of 'Czechoslovakia 1968' to show on New York television stations.[https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/01/archives/tv-usia-propaganda-questions-raised-by-buckleys-showing-of-film-on.html TV: U.S.I.A. Propaganda-NY Times] The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, J. William Fulbright, objected to the broadcast based on an interpretation of the SmithMundt 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.[https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.off czech.pdf]
Accolades
*1970 - Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1970 1970|Oscars.org]
See also
* List of American films of 1969
* Robert M. Fresco
* Denis Sanders
References
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