Films as Evidence: Reconstructing The Nuremberg Trials
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- Category: Russia A&E, Lifestyle, Culture
- Published on Thursday, 05 November 2020 07:52
- Written by Contributing Editor
Films as Evidence dedicated a new episode coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Nuremberg Tribunal, which opened on November 20, 1945 and presented films filmed during the war as evidence against the German fascist invaders.
During this trial, for the first time, several films filmed during the war were presented as evidence of the crimes of the German fascist invaders.
The authors of the project "How the war was filmed," having done a lot of research work, were able to reconstruct the historical chain of events of how documentary footage of frontline operators began to be used as evidence and allowed to establish justice in the largest trials after the Second World War. It was this event that changed the attitude towards the profession of a cameraman, proving its historical significance.
The series entitled "The Nuremberg Trial" is available on the YouTube channel of the Kino-Teatr.ru project.
VIDEO LINK : https://youtu.be/nV3Xn17IuVE
Despite the fact the practice of using film materials as circumstantial evidence and evidence in court cases has existed in the international judicial system since the 1920s, until Nuremberg they were not accepted as independent evidence.
During the tribunal, the American side, which originally intended to show films that were filmed by the Nazis themselves, decided to provide its own film evidence during the trial - a documentary about the liberation of concentration camps in Western Europe. The American prosecution adapted the civil law rules and included in the film sworn testimonies of the persons who filmed this material that everything they depicted was true.
Following their example, on February 19, 1946, on the 62nd day of the International Military Tribunal, the Soviet side showed its hour-long film "Film documents about the atrocities of the German fascist invaders." It was built on footage that Soviet cameramen filmed during the liberation of cities by Soviet troops from 1941 until the end of the war, which showed the horrors and suffering of hundreds of thousands of people tortured by the Nazis.
The film shocked not only everyone in the hall, but also made the defendants more nervous than during other screenings.
Thus, in Nuremberg, the main judge for the accused was the screen in front of them, showing the catastrophic consequences of their actions.
It was in Nuremberg that the term "documentary footage" became literal as never before - filming turned into documents, evidence, evidence, the power of which was greater than in hundreds of affidavits.
"The Nuremberg Trials raised the prestige and significance of the work of cameramen, introduced the possibility of using documentary materials into constant legal use, which made it possible to restore justice during the trials after the Second World War. He proved the great importance of this profession, recognizing its enormous contribution to history," said the director of the series, Georgy Molodtsov.
The project "How the war was filmed" was created by the Guild of Non-Feature Films and Television in cooperation with the Kino-Teatr.Ru portal. He talks about Soviet cameramen who filmed the war despite bullets and fear. However, almost nothing is known about their exploits because their names were often not indicated in newsreels, but it is thanks to them that we have got real war footage. The project was created with the support of the Institute for Internet Development as part of the implementation of the national project "Culture."
It consists of 20 short films about how the chronicle of the last war was created. 12 of them are portraits of leading front-line operators, the rest are a story about the work of newsreels during the war years.
According to some data, the operators of the Great Patriotic War numbered 257, according to others - 318. During the four war years, they filmed 3.5 million meters of frontline newsreels. However, in the films and newsreels of 1941-45, their names were often not indicated, but it is through their eyes that we still see the past war today. The goal of the project is to return the authorship to the anonymous footage of the military chronicle, to tell about those who, at the risk of their lives, captured the most dramatic moments of the Great Patriotic War.
The Guild of Non-Fiction Films and Television is the only non-profit organization in Russia that unites filmmakers and television workers, as well as legal entities specializing in the creation and distribution of documentary and popular science films, documentary television films. The main purpose of the creation and activities of the Guild is to develop the non-fiction cinematography industry, popularize all its types and genres, as well as the creative achievements of Russian documentary filmmakers.
Kino-Teatr.Ru is a Russian-language Internet project about Russian and foreign films, television series and performances, which has the most complete database of Russian actors, directors, and cameramen. The site entered the list of socially significant sites.
