| Czechoslovakia 1968 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Denis Sanders andRobert M. Fresco[1] |
| Produced by | Denis Sanders andRobert M. Fresco[2] |
| Edited by | Marvin Wallowitz |
| Music by | Charles Bernstein[3] |
Production company | Sanders/Fresco Film Makers for U.S. Information Agency[4] |
| Distributed by | Ocean Releasing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 14:36 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Czechoslovakia 1968 (also known asCzechoslovakia 1918-1968) is a 1969 shortdocumentary film about the "Prague Spring", theWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.[5] The film was produced by theUnited States Information Agency (USIA) under the direction ofRobert M. Fresco andDenis Sanders and features the graphic design of Norman Gollin.[6]
It won theAcademy Award forBest Documentary Short Subject[7] and in 1997, was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry by theLibrary of Congress having been identified as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[8][9]
In 1972, SenatorJames L. Buckley obtained a copy ofCzechoslovakia 1968 to show on New York television stations.[10] The chairman of theSenate Foreign Relations Committee,J. William Fulbright, objected to the broadcast based on an interpretation of theSmith–Mundt Act, which would prohibit the domestic dissemination of material produced by the USIA. Fulbright complained to theAttorney General, but theJustice 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.[11]