FRIHUMSAM-Fri prosj.st. hum og sam

The project is the first one to analyse the visual constructions of Europe in the Marshall Plan films and to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the planning and organization of the film campaign and its impact on European audiences. Adopting a transnat ional perspective, the project will make an important contribution to our knowledge of the early history of European integration and will shed new light on the transnational cultural exchange after the Second World War. The aim is to investigate how the medium of film helped to promote the idea of a united Europe - long before its political realisation. Analysing the films that were produced to support the European Recovery Program (ERP, often referred to as the Marshall Plan), the project wants to deter mine how Europe was conceptualised, and how this vision was sold to the public across Europe. Around 250 documentaries and shorts were produced under the aegis of the US between 1948 and 1954 as part of a massive publicity campaign to support the Europea n Recovery Programme ERP (commonly known as the Marshall Plan). The Economic Cooperation Administration ECA commissioned film makers from different European countries to produce films that should promote the Marshall Plan and the European idea; the films were dubbed and exhibited in other European countries, raising questions about the circulation and exchanges of images and symbols of Europe. Combining the analysis of the visual and narrative constructions of Europe with a thorough investigation of the p lanning, production as well as the distribution and reception of the films will help us to understand how the audiences made sense of Europe and their place within and how cultural practices travel across boundaries. Due to its transnational perspective a nd interdisciplinary design, the project will be of great benefit to the Faculty of Arts and the Department of History; it will strengthen its international standing and enhance its expertise in European history.