The impact of the 1989 velvet revolution on the former Czechoslovakian film industry

Abstract

After the collapse of the Iron Curtain in the late 1980s the film industries of Central Europe experienced massive transformation. For the former Czechoslovakia the shock therapy of total withdrawal of state funding forced producers to immediately seek alternative sources of finance. This research aims to describe the transition that the Czechoslovakian film industry underwent in the early 1990s after the collapse of Communism. A brief outline of the history of the Czechoslovak film industry proceeds a section outlining the organizational structure of the film industry under Communist rule. The transforming effects that the revolution had on this structure are illustrated to then explain the current structure of the industry. The final section looks at the prospects of the Czech and Slovak film industries with reference to the global domination of the American film industry.

Notes

This study was conducted in early 1994. The ‘current structure’ described does. I believe, remain largely valid. The fast pace of change, the hallmark of any cultural industry, remained within the bounds of the now unfenced film industry. But as this is a period of extraordinary volatility in European media legislation, subsidy policy and broadcasting in general, an update of this study may be necessary by the end of this millenium.