NEWSREELS AND CENSORSHIP IN ANTANAS SMETONA’S LITHUANIA, 1926–1940

Abstract

December 17, 1926 marked a change for the young independent Republic of Lithuania. On that day a military coup d’état replaced the democratically elected government with the authoritarian government led by ultra-conservative Lithua- nian Nationalist Union (Tautininkų sąjungos) party leader Antanas Smetona. The new government increased the control of various means of mass communication. In 1932 Film censorship law was passed, which created one centralised institution to censor all films shown in Lithuania (before this law, censorship was sporadic and done by different district officials). The same year Newsreels law was passed, which ordered that before any feature film screening, a Lithuanian newsreel must be shown. This law boosted the small Lithuanian film-making community. But not for long, by 1935 all rights to make Lithuanian newsreels were granted to one company run by filmmaker Jurgis Linartas, and old acquaintance of Anta- nas Smetona. From then on, only the Lithuanian newsreels produced by Jurgis Linartas could be shown in theatres. By means of censorship and control of news- reel production, Antanas Smetona’s regime tried to create an alternative reality to be shown in cinemas. But the new reality not only contrasted with real life too much, its making was too much of a task to handle by the regime. Audience reac- tion to Antanas Smetona’s period newsreels and their shortcomings, show us the construction of ideal image of Lithuania failed in interwar Lithuanian newsreels.