Medieval Partisan in Color: Restoration of the Film The Warriors of Faith as a Source of Cultural History

Pedkldan studie vychz z vzkumu realizovanho u pleitosti digitlnho restaurovn snmku Jan Roh z Dub (Vladimr Borsk, 1947), na kterm se Nrodn filmov archiv podlel v letech 2022–2024. Studie rekonstruuje okolnosti vzniku filmu, jeho spletitou distribun historii a jeho msto ve spoleenskm a kulturn-politickm kontextu povlenho eskoslovenska. Souasn se vnuje otzce ideologickho rozmru subnru historicistn pojatho historickho filmu a produkn a distribun praxi zesttnn eskoslovensk kinematografie v jejch formativnch letech, tedy v obdob tzv. tet republiky. V sti vnovan restaurovn sleduje postupy a pstupy zvolen s ohledem na monosti a limity dochovanch filmovch materil a mru souasnho poznn o filmu. Pro zachycen komplexn povahy dla vychz vzkum z hierarchickho modelu pouvanho pro popis kulturnch a informanch objekt, kter rozliuje mezi dlem, jeho variantou, manifestac a fyzickm nosiem. Tento pstup je relevantn nejen v kontextu archivace a restaurovn, ale umouje chpat filmov materil jako vznamn historick pramen, kter me v rmci filmov historiografie otevrat nov tmata a perspektivy. The presented study is based on research carried out on the occasion of the digital restoration of the film The Warriors of Faith (Jan Roh z Dub; Vladimr Borsk, 1947) undertaken between 2022 and 2024 with the participation of Nrodn filmov archiv, Prague. The study reconstructs the circumstances of the film's creation, its complex distribution history and its place in the social and cultural-political context of post-war Czechoslovakia. At the same time, it addresses the issue of the ideological dimension of the subgenre of historicist historical film and the production and distribution practices of nationalized Czechoslovak cinematography in its formative years, i.e. during the so-called Third Republic (1945–1948). In the part dedicated to restoration, it traces the procedures and approaches chosen with regard to the possibilities and limitations of preserved film materials and the level of current knowledge about film. To capture the complex nature of the work, the research is based on a hierarchical model used to describe cultural and information objects, which distinguishes between the work, its variant, manifestation and physical item. This approach is relevant not only in the context of archival practice and restoration, but also makes it possible to understand film stock as an important historical source that can open up new topics and perspectives within cinema historiography.