Editing Czechoslovakia 1968

{{Short description|1969 film by Denis Sanders}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Czechoslovakia 1968
| image          = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Denis Sanders]] and [[Robert M. Fresco]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2580997 |title=Czechoslovakia 1968-1969 - National Archives Catalog |access-date=2018-12-17 |archive-date=2023-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629132931/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2580997 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| producer       = [[Denis Sanders]] and [[Robert M. Fresco]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnrbdNjf-aw Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars]</ref>
| writer         = 
| screenplay     = 
| story          = 
| based_on       = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| narrator       = 
| starring       = 
| music          = [[Charles Bernstein (composer)|Charles Bernstein]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://charlesbernstein.com/bio.htm |title=Charles Bernstein - Biography |access-date=2018-12-17 |archive-date=2019-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827082916/http://charlesbernstein.com/bio.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| cinematography = 
| editing        = Marvin Wallowitz
| studio         = Sanders/Fresco Film Makers for U.S. Information Agency<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.pdf czech.pdf]</ref>
| distributor    = Ocean Releasing
| released       = {{Film date|1969}}
| runtime        = 14:36
| country        = United States
| language       = English
}}
'''''Czechoslovakia 1968''''' (also known as ''Czechoslovakia 1918-1968'')  is a 1969 short [[documentary film]] about the "[[Prague Spring]]", the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjdfzbnOsZc Czechoslovakia 1968 - U.S. National Archives on YouTube]</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1595245/ Norman Gollin - IMDB]</ref>

It won the [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)|Best Documentary Short Subject]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izmbt6C7XN0 Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969 - US National Archives on YouTube]</ref> 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".<ref name="loc">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9712/nfr.html|title=New to the National Film Registry|website=[[Library of Congress]] |accessdate=September 1, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Controversy==
In 1972, Senator [[James L. Buckley]] obtained a copy of ''Czechoslovakia 1968'' to show on New York television stations.<ref>[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 - The New York Times]</ref> The chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|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 [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]], but the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] refused to intervene based on the interpretation of existing US law. In 1972, [[United States Congress|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.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.off czech.pdf]</ref>

==Accolades==
*1970 - [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject]]<ref>[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1970 1970|Oscars.org]</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1969]]
* [[Cinema of Czechoslovakia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.pdf "Czechoslovakia 1968"] essay by Robert M. Fresco at National Film Registry
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&source=gbs_similarbooks "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
*[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2580997 ''Czechoslovakia 1968''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629132931/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2580997 |date=2023-06-29 }} at the [[National Archives and Records Administration]]
*{{IMDb title|0064200|Czechoslovakia 1968}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-Y0Llktag The film in its entirety on YouTube]
* ''[https://mubi.com/films/czechoslovakia-1918-1968 Czechoslovakia 1918–1968]'' on [[MUBI]]
{{AcademyAwardBestDocumentaryShort 1961–1980}}

[[Category:1969 films]]
[[Category:1969 short documentary films]]
[[Category:1972 controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:American anti-communist propaganda shorts]]
[[Category:American short documentary films]]
[[Category:Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Czechoslovakia–United States relations]]
[[Category:Documentary films about the Cold War]]
[[Category:Films directed by Denis Sanders]]
[[Category:Films scored by Charles Bernstein]]
[[Category:Films set in 1968]]
[[Category:Films set in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Films set in Slovakia]]
[[Category:Films about Soviet repression]]
[[Category:Prague Spring]]
[[Category:United States Information Agency films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:American collage films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in popular culture]]
[[Category:English-language short documentary films]]