Closely Watched Films ( Revivals) by Antonín J. Liehm

First published in 1974, this book collects interviews with leading Czechslovak filmmakers conducted mostly between 1967 and 1969. This was a period of immense upheaval beginning with the attack of the Czechoslovak establishment on the Union of Writers in 1967, continuing through the liberalisation of the Prague Spring in January 1968 and ended with the Soviet invasion in August and subsequent 'Normalization' process in April 1969. It records the testimony of several generations of filmmakers and their attempts to answer the questions about the purpose and meaning of film before and during this period. This book will be of interest to students of film and cultural history.