Show Trials in Poland During the Stalinist Period in the Film
Show Trials in Poland During the Stalinist Period in the Film

Summary/Abstract: One of the ways in which film was used by the communist authorities for propaganda purposes was to present show trials. The aim of the article is an attempt to explain how film was used in Poland to discredit defendants in trials before courts during the Stalinist period. How were the roles of the participants in the court proceedings presented in the film? How were the films from court hearings to be used to depreciate the defendants in the eyes of society, and to legitimise and strengthen the authority of the new government? The article is based on examples of films from show political trials of “enemies of the people” in Poland in the 1940s and 1950s.

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