Cinema

Cinema was the main form of entertainment. Due to its popularity, it was used to disseminate political ideas through film, with war as the main theme.

Spain up to date (1937) by Pedraza BlancoPablo Iglesias Foundation

Film

Many of these films were put on by the parties that made up the Popular Front, and Soviet productions featured heavily.

The Cronstadt sailors... (Circa 1937) by RenauPablo Iglesias Foundation

The Sailors of Kronstadt

This 1936 film by Yefim Dzigam premiered on October 18 at Madrid's Capitol cinema, in a screening attended by Manuel Azaña along with several other members of the government. It tells the story of the Soviet sailors who defended Petrograd against the White Army in 1919.

The last night (Circa 1937) by UnknownPablo Iglesias Foundation

The Last Night

A film made in 1937 and shown in Madrid's Capitol cinema in January 1938. Following the events in Kronstadt in 1919, a Bolshevik sailor returns from Petrograd to Moscow to continue his fight.

Sponsored by the International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union, founded in 1933. Its core founding members included intellectuals such as Gregorio Marañón, Pío Baroja, Valle-Inclán, Victoria Kent, Jacinto Benavente, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, and Luis Jiménez de Asua, to name but a few.

Tchapaief. The red guerrilla (Circa 1936) by RenauPablo Iglesias Foundation

Tchapaief: The Red Guerrilla

This film, made in 1934 by the Vasilyev brothers, was a favorite of Stalin's. It premiered on May 7, 1936, in Barcelona, and on November 2 in Madrid. The plot tells the story of the struggle and death of a Ukrainian soldier fighting the Russian White Army.

A German pioneer... (Circa 1937) by UnknownPablo Iglesias Foundation

A German Pioneer

This was the first film produced by the Komsomol studios in Odesa, in 1936. Komsomol was the Communist Party's youth organization in the Soviet Union. Written by the Hungarian poet, Béla Balázs, the film tells the story of a boy who is persecuted by the Nazis because of his family's political views.

The Circus. Great Soviet film (1937) by Pedraza BlancoPablo Iglesias Foundation

Circus

Circus was a musical comedy made in 1936 that was first shown in Madrid in February 1937, at the Monumental cinema. It tells the story of a circus performer who gives birth to a Black baby in the US, and becomes the victim of racist attacks. She is taken in by the USSR, where she becomes a huge star.

The party's membership card... (1937) by Pedraza BlancoPablo Iglesias Foundation

Party Membership Card

This film by Ivan Pyryev from 1936 was first shown in May 1937, at Madrid's Avenida cinema, and shows how to spot saboteurs who have infiltrated organizations.

Peasants... (1937) by Pedraza BlancoPablo Iglesias Foundation

Peasants

Soviet propaganda in the Spanish Civil War made use of film as an extremely popular medium through which to reach a large part of the population. A similar phenomenon had been observed following the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Manoeuvres days... (Circa 1937) by Mauricio AmsterPablo Iglesias Foundation

Days of Maneuvers

Soviet films eulogized the achievements of the Russian Revolution and the power of the Red Army.

SUICEP presents... (Circa 1937) by D. GómezPablo Iglesias Foundation

Así Venceremos (This Is How We Will Win)

This docudrama, directed by Fernando Roldán and first shown in August 1937, tells the story of life under siege in Madrid. It explores daily life in the Republican zone from an anarchist point of view.

"Spain for Europe"... (Circa 1937) by MRPablo Iglesias Foundation

España por Europa (Spain for Europe)

This film was produced in 1937 by Spain's General War Commission, which was created by Prime Minister Largo Caballero in October 1936 with the aim of "spiritually and socially" influencing combatants. The film was shown in the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris World's Fair, between April and July the same year.

Spain up to date (1937) by Pedraza BlancoPablo Iglesias Foundation

News broadcasts

España al Día was a news bulletin produced by Film Popular, which was run by the propaganda organization Altavoz del Frente (Loudspeaker at the Front). With an average of 10 news items per episode, it was produced from April 1937 onward in Spanish, French, and English.

In the summer of 1936, film workers from Spain's General Union of Workers (UGT) and Communist Party (PCE) created the Workers' Cinematographic Cooperative (Cooperativa Obrera Cinematográfica), which became Film Popular in the fall of that same year. Its head office was in Valencia and it distributed its own films, as well as distributing and dubbing Soviet films.

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Art of the Spanish Civil War
Propaganda posters kept in the archives of the Pablo Iglesias Foundation.
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