Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary is an exploration of the past by a filmmaker to understand the events of the occupation of Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1968. Four hours of unwatched film presents a different perspective and image of that time, and the filmmaker spends the rest of this film exploring the new evidence of what the citizens experienced. After with his friend to attempt to trace the origins of the 35mm film back to the original owners, the filmmaker Jǎn Sikl turns to the public to help identify the people present and possibly filmed during this day.

One of the people that contacts Sikl and later meets with him in person says, “All of a sudden, troops appear in the streets. It’s a terrible shock, you can’t capture it. Not even describe it.” The nostalgia of people reaching out to Sikl and talking about what they saw that day is juxtaposed with 50 years of foresight about what has happened since then. The film continues to be told in split timelines, the story of the filmmaker interviewing and discovering more about the people in the film and the film itself as the individuals found speak about what they witnessed during and after the occupation. Themes in many of the interviews include the shock of what was occurring, some mentioning recording what they could because they could not believe their own eyes. Many others told stories around the images of people banding together to protest and oppose occupation, ultimately giving insight into why and how people fight and ultimately how many may choose to give up.

This film provides a glimpse into a specific point in history that would be valuable not only to students and researchers of European history and researchers on military conflict, but also to those interested in documentary filmmaking, and how to research first-hand accounts and how to connect primary sources with personal contexts.

Awards:
Best Documentary, Imagineindia International Film Festival; Spain Best Historical Documentary, Beyond Borders Int’l Doc Festival, Greece

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