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Selling Democracy

Poster image of a sailing ship with european countries' flags for sails

BANNED IN THE USA for 60 YEARS!
The European Recovery Program (ERP) - better known as the Marshall Plan - relied on cinema to bring hope to European citizens after WWII. Short films told the myriad stories of recovery in funny , entertaining and provocative ways. ERP's European filmmakers had tremendous latitude, and they made cartoons, mini dramas, satires, and newsreels. The nearly 300 ERP films did their duty, and were then lost from view for over 60 years. Americans never saw them at all, for they were banned in the U.S. under the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act. Now that the ban has been lifted, they can be shown for the first time. Marshall film historian Sandra Schulberg introduces each program.

For background on the films of the Marshall Plan, see www.sellingdemocracy.org and www.marshallfilms.org.

Program Schedule, September 24-26

Thurs, Sept. 24
 Events
5:15 - 7:30pmMarshall Film Shorts - Program 1 Out of the Ruins: Help is on the Way
Q&A Session with S. Schulberg
location: Krannert Art Museum, 500 East Peabody Dr., Champaign
Fri, Sept. 25
 Events
1:30 - 3:00 pm Cinema Studies Lecture by Sandra Schulberg: "Where Are We & Where Are We Going? The Challenges of Making & Distributing Independent Movies"
location: Lucy Ellis Lounge, Foreign Language Building, 707 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana
5:15 - 7:30 pm Marshall Film Shorts - Program 2 Unity in Difference: The Road to the European Union
followed by reception
Q&A Session with S. Schulberg
location: Krannert Art Museum, 500 East Peabody Dr.,
Champaign

followed by a reception in the Link Gallery between the Krannert Art Museum and the School of Art and Design
Sat, Sept. 26
 Events
2:00 - 4:00 pm Marshall Film Shorts - Program 3 Public Diplomacy Techniques: From Art to Ideology
Q&A Session with S. Schulberg
location: Krannert Art Museum, 500 East Peabody Dr.,
Champaign
4:00 - 6:00 pm

PANEL DISCUSSION: Selling Democracy -- Then and Now with S. Schulberg and UI Faculty: Anke Pinkert (Germanic Lang. & Lit.), Lilya Kaganovsky (Slavic Lang. and Lit.), Mark Leff (History)
location: Krannert Art Museum, 500 East Peabody Dr.,
Champaign

List of all films to be screened coming soon. (.pdf)

All films courtesy of Academy Film Archive

Distinguished Guest Sandra Schulberg

Picture of Sandra Schulberg

Sandra Schulberg has led the campaign to restore the Marshall Plan films and exhibit them in the U.S. and abroad. Author of "Selling Democracy: Films of the Marshall Plan, 1948-1953," she is filming interviews with all surviving ERP filmmakers. Born in Paris, while her father, Stuart Schulberg, served as Chief of the Marshall Plan Motion Picture Section, she graduated from Swarthmore College, and is Adjunct Assistant Professor in Columbia University's Graduate Film Division.

Schulberg is an accomplished movie producer and longtime advocate of independent filmmakers. In 1979, she founded the IFP, the nation's oldest and largest filmmakers' organization, and is creating a comprehensive indie film archive.Download her extended bio(.doc).

Co-Sponsors

  • Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
  • Department of History
  • Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
  • Program in Jewish Culture and Society
  • Unit for Cinema Studies
  • Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities