Students of Master's Degree in Film, TV and Interactive Media from IUNIT have visited the exhibition “NO-DO. The world of yesterday”Organized by the Spanish Film Library in Madrid.
The activity allowed students to explore one of the most significant audiovisual archives in recent Spanish history: the Newsreels and Film Documentaries, popularly known as NODEFor decades, these pieces were part of the cinematic experience of millions of viewers and became a key tool for constructing the official narrative during the Franco regime.
An exhibition to understand the image as a tool for communication and propaganda
The exhibition offers a journey through the universe of NODEAnalyzing how newsreels and documentaries combined information, entertainment, and propaganda, the exhibition uses projections, archival footage, documents, and materials related to audiovisual production to explore how news narratives were constructed and how reality was presented to the public.
One of the highlights of the visit was the opportunity to observe the inner workings of this audiovisual system: from the selection of topics to the construction of the narrative tone, the use of voice-over, the staging of events, and the way in which the images contributed to conveying a particular political and social vision.
For students of Master's Degree in Film, TV and Interactive MediaThis approach is especially relevant, as it allows us to analyze the power of the image not only as a historical document, but also as an instrument capable of influencing public opinion and collective memory.
What the students were able to see at the NO-DO exhibition
During the visit, the students were able to learn firsthand about different elements related to the production and distribution of NO-DO newsreels. The exhibition includes materials that help to understand how these newsreels were produced, how they were distributed, and what place they occupied within the audiovisual culture of the time.
Among the most relevant contents of the exhibition are the projections of audiovisual fragments, which allow us to observe the visual and narrative language used in news broadcasts; the images and archival documents, which contextualize the function of the NO-DO within the Francoist media system; and diverse technical equipment used by reporters, such as cameras, microphones and tape recorders, which show the material and professional dimension of that audiovisual production.
The exhibition also invites reflection on the viewer's experience in movie theaters. NO-DO newsreels were not merely informative products, but rather an integral part of everyday film consumption. This combination of spectacle, current events, and propaganda is one of the elements that makes the exhibition a particularly interesting visit for those studying film, television, and interactive media.
A critical look at Spanish audiovisual heritage
More than eighty years after the creation of NO-DO and nearly 45 years after its disappearance, the exhibition poses a fundamental question: what meaning does this archive have today for society and for Spanish audiovisual heritage?
For IUNIT students, this issue opened a space for analysis on the importance of preserving, studying, and contextualizing audiovisual documents. Images from the past not only show events, but also ways of seeing, narrating, and representing an era. Therefore, their interpretation requires a critical perspective that takes into account the political, cultural, and media context in which they were produced.
The visit allowed us to work on key concepts for audiovisual training, such as the construction of the story, the manipulation of the image, the ideological function of editing, the value of archives and the responsibility of communication professionals when creating and disseminating content.
Training connected with leading cultural institutions
El Master's Degree in Film, TV and Interactive Media from IUNIT It is committed to training connected to the cultural and professional reality of the audiovisual sector. The visit to the exhibition of the Spanish Film Library It allowed students to come into contact with a key institution for the conservation, research and dissemination of film heritage.
These types of activities complement classroom learning and offer students the opportunity to connect the master's program content with concrete examples from Spanish audiovisual history. In this case, the exhibition on NO-DO newsreels served to analyze how images can become tools of power, but also essential documents for understanding the past.
