BGAMLI at the round table «Film and photo document as a historical memory of the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War»

On May 29, 2025, the Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema hosted a round table «Film and photo document as a historical memory of the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War», dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, organized by the Center for the Study of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Belarusian Union of Cinematographers, the National Historical Museum and the Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents. It was attended by employees of the organizing institutions, the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art (hereinafter referred to as BGAMLI), the Letapis Documentary Film Studio, the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, professors and students of the Faculty of History of the Belarusian State University.

The round table became an important event for representatives of scientific, educational and archival institutions involved in the preservation, study and popularization of the cinema art of our country. Discussion of the topic of film and photo documents of the Great Patriotic War allows not only to acquaint specialists with the already accumulated experience, but also to expand and deepen the understanding of the current tasks of transmitting historical memory in society.

BGAMLI was represented at the round table by the leading researcher of the department of information, publication and use of documents D.S. Samokhvalov and the leading archivist I.A. Lobovich. In his speech «Documentary films and newsreels of the Great Patriotic War as a historical source» D.S. Samokhvalov drew attention to the peculiarities of everyday perception of film documents of the war years as reliable evidence of events, while in fact they are creative works of cameramen and directors and require careful treatment from the researcher. He also considered the problematic issues of interpretation and use of film documents in the works of historians. The speech provoked a lively exchange of opinions, which continued after the event.

1. Round table opening

2. Speech by D.S.Samakhvalava