Abstract
The Imagination totalitarianism, film propaganda as a historical problem - the opening article/essey of czech part of collection Film and history 3. Pollitical Camera - Film and Stalinism.
Kristian Feigelson - Petr Kopal (eds.), Prague 2012. The publication emerged as the basis of collection Caméra Politique - Cinéma et Stalinisme (2005) edited by Prof.
K. Feigelson from the Sorbonne in Paris.
This collection of contributions from the pens of leading European film historians gives a clear image of the history of Soviet cinema at the time of Stalinism and testifies to its reception and influence in modern Soviet film, as well as in other cultures (France, Italy, Poland, etc). The bookCaméra Politique -Cinéma et Stalinisme is a superior publication of the collection, enriching as an original Czech study that attempts to explain the Stalinist era (chiefy, but not only) through Czech film.
In this "czech" section (In light and shadow of Stalin), the authors attempt to find answers to these basic questions: how filmmaking within a totalitarian system worked, what were challenges and opportunities and how it was reflected. Particular attention is paid to the memory of Stalinism, the phenomenon of film festivals in February 1948 and finally the topic of retro (film and television images of Klement Gottwald in the 70s and 80s).