Occupation 1968

Five countries of the Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia in 1968. 50 years later, 5 directors from these 5 countries shot 5 short films about the invasion from the point of view of former participantss. This documentary project about August 1968 is a collective subjective take on the soldiers of “friendly” armies and their thoughts and impressions about the Czechoslovakian occupation and their own tasks within it. The main question is: how does “a small person“ in Europe behave in front of so-called “big history”? Which role do personal responsibility and the preservation of one’s personal and moral point of play, and what happens to them when they have to choose between saving their lives or obeying the rules?

The occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 was a totally different event for the “friendly armies” of the Warsaw Pact, than for the Czech and Slovak people. It happened at the same time and place, but the arriving occupants had a very different view of it. What were the  feelings of the soldiers who were sent to a foreign country to “carry out orders”? The authors of this film are interested in soldiers of different nationalities and “satire pieces”, beginning with the soldiers who just did what they were told, and ending with the strategists themselves. In order to get the most diverse views on this complicated topic, the producers decided to choose five directors from five countries of the former Warsaw Pact, which participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia: Russia, Poland, Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria. The result is five 26-minute documentaries – five different views from inside the five countries.