TRL Repression Machine ENPRO

Genre: Thematic Short Film
Format: PAL/SECAM, DV-Cam, DV-AVI
Runtime: 4:10 min
Languages: EN
Series: "Life in the U.S.S.R."

Topic: Western Sovietologists have confirmed that 50 – 60 million people became the victims of repression, collectivization, famine and deportation in the U.S.S.R. After the GULAG and NKVD archives were made accessible to the public, that number was a little reduced. Anyhow it turned out that from 1921 to 1954 12.5 million people died for direct State repression. But how many millions died for the famine in the early ‘20s or in Ukraine in 1932-33, famines originated by political decisions of the Communist Party for finishing off all rivals?

Plot: The film presents the realities that were instituted by the Communist regime in order to keep control over the people. The constant fear of "counterrevolution" lead to the fabrication of a sophisticated system of control and repression. Forced collectivization, corrective labour camps (known as the GULAG), dispossession of property, secret deportation of uncomfortable people, and executions officially declared as "natural deaths" where the main means of this immense repression machine. Through show trials the system tried to justify its actions, with rather scarce success. Rooted in the ideologies of Marx and Lenin the system became a mastodontic machine of spies and counterspies, treachery and opportunism.

The Series: By breaking the traditional family and religion, taking control of children’s education, prying into spouses’ bedrooms and even the minds of people with the system of denunciations, refusing people respect and their basic rights, the government corrupted the country’s population. This series wants to shed light on some of these realities using sometimes opposing points of view in the choice of interviews and supporting the explained problematic with corresponding video materials. These short films may be useful as support material in talk-shows or educational programs. Other themes may be developed in future.

Other short films of the series:

• Communist Ideology
• Happy childhood
• Life and Death
• Opium for the People
• Soviet Families
• Youth