Iluminace 2018, 30(4):9-30 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1587

Tramps Wandering the "New Europe". The Reich's Film Politics and the Export Capacity of the Protectorate's Cinema

Pavel Skopal

Masarykova univerzita

In the second half of the 1930th Czech film industry increased its ambitions regarding the export of Czech films. The occupation changed the form of and conditions for the export, but it did not stop completely. On the contrary, the export was developing rather extensively event though it was controlled by the Reich through the company Transit Film. This company aimed at controlling the distribution channels of films in European cinemas and implement cultural-political goals of the Reich's Ministry of Propaganda. These goals included strict regulation of import of foreign films to Germany, and as a result, only three Czech films were introduced to the vast market: Krok do tmy, Modrý závoj, and by the end of the Protectorate era also Noční motýl. Big production companies of the Protectorate era Lucernafilm and Nationalfilm did not expect this, and the owner of Lucernafilm Miloš Havel tried to use all his power to create the best possible conditions to sell Czech films abroad.
Havel did not succeed to make these changes concerning the Reich's market, yet owing mainly to his effort, the conditions for sales improved nevertheless. In the spring of 1942, the ban on the export of Protectorate films was lifted, and Havel reached an agreement with Transit regarding the conditions for Lucernafilm and other production companies. However, he did not manage to secure access to the Reich's market even after complaints addressed to the Reich's Ministry of Propaganda near the end of the war. Despite that, the hopes the Protectorate production companies had regarding the export of their films were not unfruitful. The films Noční motýl and Krok do tmy were successful on the Reich's market in comparison to other foreign productions. Most importantly, 34 films were exported to other European countries (most frequently Noční motýl, Ohnivé léto, and Maskovaná milenka - each of them to 9 countries). The exported Protectorate films accomplished higher profits than the majority of other non-German production.
The research focused on the export plans and reality of Czech Protectorate production revealed two significant facts. Firstly, Czech film producers were thinking about film export even at times when it was utterly impossible. Even during that time, such considerations played a role in decisions regarding individual projects and their financial support in two ways: from the perspective of possible profits from investments generated after the war; and as an alternative to non-export, purely "Czech" films. Secondly, the relatively wide and successful distribution of Czech films to many European countries. Thus, Czech films, in comparison to other European non-German films proved to feature significant transcultural attractiveness, and their success was able to influence the position of Czech cinema in the post-war era. Výzkum zaměřený na exportní plány a realitu české protektorátní produkce odhalil dvě významné skutečnosti. Za prvé, čeští filmoví producenti uvažovali o vývozu filmů i v době, kdy to bylo zcela nemožné. I v této době hrály tyto úvahy roli při rozhodování o jednotlivých projektech a jejich finanční podpoře, a to ve dvou směrech: z hlediska možných zisků z investic vytvořených po válce a jako alternativa k neexportním, ryze „českým“ filmům. Za druhé pak poměrně široká a úspěšná distribuce českých filmů do mnoha evropských zemí. České filmy se tak ve srovnání s jinými evropskými neněmeckými filmy ukázaly jako výrazně transkulturně atraktivní a jejich úspěch dokázal ovlivnit postavení české kinematografie v poválečném období.

Keywords: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Second World War, Nazism, film production, film distribution, international relations

Published: December 1, 2018  Show citation