This past winter, one of the most searched for words in the Romanian online dictionary was "legionary". In order to contribute to satisfying this curiosity and to add images and faces to somewhat abstract definitions, we’ve decided to put together a programme of newsreels owned by The Nation Film Archive from the years 1940-1945. 

The selection stretches from the formation of the National Legionary State in September 1940 to the end of the Second World War. The newsreels show legionary commemorations, the massacres of November 1940 - January 1941 and the rebellion following which general Antonescu disavowed the Legion, the commemoration of archbishop Andrei Șaguna in Sibiu - in the presence of prime minister Mihai Antonescu, the visit of the papal representative in the North-Eastern regions administered by the Romanian Army, including the ghettos in Transnistria and Odessa, closing with a support material for the trials started in 1945 against war crimes. 

Of course, even if these images and speeches contain traces of reality, they are the product of film propaganda and they reflect the political turns of this short, yet violent period. They should be „read between the lines”, which is what we plan on doing together during a prolonged debate after the screening. 

This selection comes to further our program Vintage Sahia, initiated in 2013 to critically revisit and open to the public the Romanian documentary film heritage. 

The newsreels are made before the founding of the "Alexandru Sahia" Studio and some of them are produced in collaboration with teams from Germany or Italy, allies of Romania before August 1944. 

Program titles:

NEWSREEL 77 / 1940 (Subject C: The March of the Legionary Victory) (10')

NEWSREEL 81 / 1941 (Subject H: Commemoration of the Legionaries Moța and Marin) (5')

THE LEGIONARY REBELLION (NEWSREEL 83 / 1941) (10')

HONORING TRANSYLVANIA / 1942 (8’)

IN THE NAME OF THE CROSS AND THE CHARITY / 1942 (The visit of the Apostolic Envoy in the Prisoner Camps in Transnistria, Bessarabia and Bukovina) (17')

THE PATRIOTIC DEFENCE SHOWS THE HORRORS OF THE WAR CRIMINALS / 1945 (4’)

The films may contain images with a strong emotional impact.