Propaganda Documentaries In France

In occupied France, the Nazis pursued aggressive, tightly orchestrated measures designed to monopolize the French market and foster agitation against Americans, Jews, Communists, and others. The documentary film was one instrument of propaganda employed by the Nazi occupiers, as well as the Vichy government and collaborationists. Nearly two hundred of those documentaries have been restored by the French Film Archives. Jean-Pierre Bertin-Maghit’s Propaganda Documentaries in France: 1940–1944 is the first volume specifically devoted to nonfiction propaganda films distributed in France during the “dark years” of the German Occupation. This book provides a concise overview of Vichy and German film policies, including the purchase of an extensive network of movie houses, many of which were expropriated from Jewish owners. In addition, popular prewar American and French feature films were banned, while theaters were flooded with propagandist titles. Bertin-Maghit also illustrates how ideological priorities and political negotiations played out in both topical documentaries and weekly newsreels, juxtaposing Vichy’s integrationist propaganda with German-sponsored documentaries of agitation and exclusion. While documentaries are the primary focus of this work, the author also addresses other forms of propaganda, such as newsreels and posters. Appearing in English for the first time—and featuring a filmography of 178 restored works—Propaganda Documentaries in France: 1940–1944 is a provocative and wide-ranging work of history and cinema that will be of interest to film scholars and historians as well as sociologists and political scientists.

Between 1940 and 1944 in German-occupied France, the previously disregarded documentary or film de complement took on a new and more prominent role for cinema audiences. Film programmes were obliged for the first time to show documentaries as well as the main feature. Vichy Government support and encouragement made documentary a vehicle for the palatable promotion of policy whilst ostensibly appearing neutral and didactic. Key to this task was the fostering of a climate in which documentary film could be appreciated in its own right, and so it was that special series of high quality documentaries were screened first in Paris and then across France. In 1943 a Government-sponsored Documentary Film Congress acknowledged that these screenings were « au service de la France et du Marechal. This book relates the films to their historical context with reference to other propaganda materials of the period, to indicate how this might have been achieved.

Between 1940 and 1944 in German-occupied France, the previously disregarded documentary or film de complément took on a new and more prominent role for cinema audiences. Film programmes were obliged for the first time to show documentaries as well as the main feature. Vichy Government support and encouragement made documentary a vehicle for the palatable promotion of policy whilst ostensibly appearing neutral and didactic. Key to this task was the fostering of a climate in which documentary film could be appreciated in its own right, and so it was that special series of high quality documentaries were screened first in Paris and then across France. In 1943 a Government-sponsored Documentary Film Congress acknowledged that these screenings were « au service de la France et du Maréchal ». This book relates the films to their historical context with reference to other propaganda materials of the period, to indicate how this might have been achieved.

Argues that interwar documentary film made a substantial contribution to the rewriting of the French national narrative

This book, first published in 1983, brings together leading world experts on film and radio propaganda in a study which deals with each of the major powers as well as several under occupation. By examining each nations’ propaganda content and comparing its various strands of output designed for different audiences, the historian is provided with an important source of a nation’s official self-image. Total war forced governments to formulate goals consistent with the received national ideology in order to support the war effort. To this extent, much of the domestic propaganda was directed towards stimulating the population to make sacrifices with promise of a new world if the peace were won.

This book exposes the myths surrounding the propaganda films produced during the Third Reich. One, that the Nazis were infallible masters in the use of film propaganda. Two, that everything the Nazis said was a lie. Three, that only the Riefenstahl documentaries are significant to the modern viewer. It reveals the truth, lies, successes and failures of key films designed to arouse hostility against the Nazis’ enemies, including Ohm Krüger - the most anti-British film ever produced; their 1943 anti-capitalist version of Titanic; anti-English films about Ireland and Scotland; and anti-American films like The Emperor of California and The Prodigal Son. Including an objective analysis of all the key films produced by the Nazi regime and a wealth of film stills, Ian C. Garden takes the reader on a journey through the Nazi propaganda machine. In today’s turbulent world the book serves as a poignant reminder of the levels to which powerful regimes will stoop to achieve power and control.

Framing the Nation: Documentary Film in Interwar France argues that, between World Wars I and II, documentary film made a substantial contribution to the rewriting of the French national narrative to include rural France and the colonies. The book mines a significant body of virtually unknown films and manuscripts for their insight into revisions of French national identity in the aftermath of the Great War. From 1918 onwards, government institutions sought to advance social programs they believed were crucial to national regeneration. They turned to documentary film, a new form of mass commun.

A refreshing contribution to existing scholarship in English on contemporary French documentary cinema. Combines textured film analyses with rich contextual and conceptual readings. Makes a strong case for long-form documentary cinema’s critical and political force as a "praxis of precarious sociality". Connects debates on documentary and film ethics with sociological, philosophical and political conceptions of precarity, precariousness and vulnerability.