OCCUPATION 1968

An anthology documentary consisting of five short films on the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, each by a different director from the five countries that participated in the occupation. 

In August 1968, five Warsaw Pact countries—the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany and Hungary—invaded Czechoslovakia. Approximately 250,000 Warsaw Pact soldiers attacked the country, successfully halting the Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization that aimed to grant additional rights to Czechoslovakians. Fifty years later, five directors each make a short film that follows the soldiers who were involved in the occupation. Providing a new perspective seen from the eyes of the occupiers, each film focuses on the extent of the soldier’s involvement and their reflections on invading, what was generally thought to be at the time, an allied nation. 

The five short films are anchored through the event of the occupation, but also around the question of how individual accountability can be measured in the face of authoritarian state coercion. Occupation 1968 provides a valuable look at a poignant moment in history, while also posing important questions for our current social malaise, as the agency of the individual is currently being questioned globally in the face of what appears to be the overpowering forces of big business, political elites, and climate change.

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2019  Anthropology  Cinema Studies  Directed by Women  Eastern Europe  Europe  Peace & Conflict  Russia  Short Films  World History 

Official Selection - Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival

Offical Selection - Sofia International Film Festival