Albanian Filmmaker Roland Sejko Explores Rich Cinematic Legacy in Soviet-Era Propaganda Archives

The documentary “A State Film,” meticulously assembled by filmmaker Roland Sejko from extensive archives of propaganda footage created under Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha’s regime, offers viewers a compelling examination of how authoritarian governments manipulate imagery to craft national narratives.

Currently featured in the main competition at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, the Czech Republic’s premier nonfiction film event, Sejko’s work has drawn attention for its methodical dissection of state-controlled media and its far-reaching effects.

“I’ve been working for several years with propaganda film archives — first with Istituto Luce Cinecitta, and also with the archives of the Albanian communist regime,” Sejko explained during the festival. “Both contain thousands of films created to construct a political narrative, often with striking cinematic ambition.”

This documentary represents Sejko’s continued exploration of how totalitarian regimes utilize visual media to shape public perception. His approach involves carefully examining archival footage not merely as historical documentation but as calculated tools of political engineering.

Albania under Hoxha, who ruled from 1944 until his death in 1985, maintained one of the most isolated and repressive communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The propaganda machine was central to maintaining his cult of personality and justifying policies that kept Albania sealed off from much of the world. The state-produced films during this period served as both entertainment and indoctrination, carefully presenting idealized visions of Albanian society that often contrasted sharply with reality.

Sejko’s documentary technique involves allowing these official images to speak for themselves while contextualizing them for modern audiences who may be unfamiliar with this chapter of European history. The resulting film reveals the sophisticated visual language employed by state filmmakers to glorify the regime and vilify its perceived enemies.

This work follows Sejko’s previous documentary, “The Image Machine of Alfredo C.,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2021. That film chronicled the experiences of an Istituto Luce cameraman, exploring similar themes of image-making in service to state power, but through the lens of Fascist Italy’s propaganda apparatus.

The documentary genre focusing on propaganda archives has gained increasing relevance in recent years as scholars and filmmakers recognize the importance of understanding historical methods of information control. These films serve as crucial lessons in media literacy at a time when questions about manipulation of visual information remain pressing in the digital age.

Film historians note that state propaganda films from the communist era often employed advanced cinematographic techniques, with regimes investing heavily in film production despite otherwise limited resources. The visual sophistication of these works makes them particularly insidious as vehicles for political messaging.

“A State Film” arrives at a moment when Eastern European nations continue to reckon with their communist pasts, with varying degrees of historical acknowledgment across different countries. Albania’s post-communist transition has been particularly complex, with ongoing debates about how to interpret the Hoxha era.

Festival programmers at Ji.hlava highlighted Sejko’s work for its contribution to this broader conversation about historical memory and authoritarian control. The documentary provides international audiences with rare glimpses into a propaganda system that remained largely unseen outside Albania’s borders during the Cold War.

Film critics attending early screenings have praised Sejko’s restraint in allowing the archival footage to reveal its underlying messages without heavy-handed commentary, creating a more powerful viewing experience that invites audiences to recognize the mechanics of propaganda for themselves.

As “A State Film” continues its festival run, it stands as a significant contribution to documentary cinema’s ongoing exploration of how images can be weaponized in service to political power—and how understanding this history might help viewers become more discerning consumers of visual media today.