The Strahov Demonstration

Responding to a challenge from a film critic who asked what he would do to take advantage of the brief period without censorship under Dubček in 1968, Němec shot a documentary interviewing victims of police brutality following an unprecedented demonstration of discontent by students in 1967. The result, equally unprecedented, offers an uncensored record of the times.
For the first time Němec assumed in his film an openly political, even activist position, that he again adopted in his record of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in Oratorio for Prague, which travelled the world. The Communist establishment took notice. In his signature efficient manner, he sets up stage with an energetically edited opening sequence, and throughout the film uses commentary to present the official position in juxtaposition with the students’ testimonies to make his argument for free expression. Screens together with Oratorio for Prague.