Socialism in Motion: Czechoslovak Spartakiads 1955–1990

The documentary Socialism in Motion: Czechoslovak Spartakiads 1955–1990 presents the role of the Spartakiads in the communist regime and in the lives of those who participated in it, using a number of archive materials, supplemented with their current interpretations. Strahov stadium regularly hosted mass gym performances to demonstrate the unity of the nation and the individual’s subordination to the collective. Ironically, it was based on the tradition of suppressed Sokol meetings. The Spartakiads were used by the Communist regime to embody and communicate its ideology and plans. However, within the changing context, the form and role of the Games were changing. Reports of that time cover extensive preparations, rehearsals, the actual course of these performances and the way people spent the days of the Spartakiads. (Academia Film Olomouc)