OCCUPATION 1968
Prague 1968
Five short films, one documentary film – the events of the Prague Spring seen from the perspective of the occupying powers. Aside from the Soviet Union, other Warsaw Pact nations took part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968: Bulgarian, German, Polish and Hungarian soldiers were sent abroad as well, in part unexpectedly. In 2018 five directors from these countries investigated what the role of the occupier meant and means both then and now. The filmmakers have managed in the process to get extremely close to their main characters. The films, each 26 minutes long, dissolve the generally prevalent dichotomy between victim and perpetrator – the sensitive depiction of personal destinies is interrupted repeatedly by footage of archive material and original images from the time of the occupation. OCCUPATION 1968 doesn’t rewrite history, but it does add several important chapters to it.
OKKUPATION 1968
SVK, CZE, BGR, HUN, POL 2018 / 130 min
Language: Slovak, Czech, Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, German, English
Director: Stephan Komandarev, Magdalena Szymków, Linda Dombrovszky, Evdokia Moskvina, Marie Elisa Scheidt
- Screenplay: Evdokia Moskvina, Linda Dombrovszky, Magdalena Szymków, Marie Elisa Scheidt, Stephan Komandarev, Simeon Ventsislavov
- Cinematographer: Jakub Halousek, Ákos Nyoszoli, Zuzanna Kernbach, Moritz Tessendorf, Vesselin Hristov
- Editor: Matej Beneš, Levente Pap, Izabela Pająk, Denize Galiao, Nina Altaparmakova
- Cast: Klaus Auerswald, Reinhard Bohse, Laura Hempel
- Producer: Peter Kerekes
- Production Company: Peter Kerekes Film
- Co-Production Company: Hypermarket Film, ELF Pictures, AgitProp Production, Silver Frame, Slovak Radio & TV, Czech Television, Bulgarian National Television, Telewizja Polska TVP
- Rights Holder: Slingshot Films
Five short films, one documentary film – the events of the Prague Spring seen from the perspective of the occupying powers. Aside from the Soviet Union, other Warsaw Pact nations took part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968: Bulgarian, German, Polish and Hungarian soldiers were sent abroad as well, in part unexpectedly. In 2018 five directors from these countries investigated what the role of the occupier meant and means both then and now. The filmmakers have managed in the process to get extremely close to their main characters. The films, each 26 minutes long, dissolve the generally prevalent dichotomy between victim and perpetrator – the sensitive depiction of personal destinies is interrupted repeatedly by footage of archive material and original images from the time of the occupation. OCCUPATION 1968 doesn’t rewrite history, but it does add several important chapters to it.
- Screenplay: Evdokia Moskvina, Linda Dombrovszky, Magdalena Szymków, Marie Elisa Scheidt, Stephan Komandarev, Simeon Ventsislavov
- Cinematographer: Jakub Halousek, Ákos Nyoszoli, Zuzanna Kernbach, Moritz Tessendorf, Vesselin Hristov
- Editor: Matej Beneš, Levente Pap, Izabela Pająk, Denize Galiao, Nina Altaparmakova
- Cast: Klaus Auerswald, Reinhard Bohse, Laura Hempel
- Producer: Peter Kerekes
- Production Company: Peter Kerekes Film
- Co-Production Company: Hypermarket Film, ELF Pictures, AgitProp Production, Silver Frame, Slovak Radio & TV, Czech Television, Bulgarian National Television, Telewizja Polska TVP
- Rights Holder: Slingshot Films