Film is a powerful tool for constructing and reinforcing national identity. Through carefully curated stories, cities, landscapes, and historical events projected on screen help audiences imagine their collective heritage and values. Unraveling the role of cinema in shaping national identity involves examining both state-sponsored productions and independent creative movements.
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In the early 20th century, European nations recognized the medium’s potential to foster unity and collective pride. Soviet cinema under directors like Sergei Eisenstein became a vehicle for Communist ideology, with works such as Battleship Potemkin (1925) celebrating proletarian struggle and revolutionary fervor. Similarly, Germany’s UFA studio produced lavish epics like Metropolis (1927), reflecting on modernity and national ambition, even as it later served propagandistic ends under the Nazis.
