MOSCOW, APRIL 9, 2020 — RT recreates the legendary wartime photograph “Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag” transforming this iconic moment of victory into a commemorative film as part of its Victory Day 75th anniversary campaign.
To coincide with global celebrations marking 75 years since the capitulation of Nazi Germany, and the end of the Second World War in 1945, RT has created a commemorative video campaign developed by its multi-award winning creative department, to promote special programming surrounding Victory Day.
RT’s team of VR experts brought to life the legendary scene surrounding the capture of the “Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag” image; reconstructing parts of the buildings’ 1945 rooftop and surrounding area. The original image, that became iconic both in the USSR. and abroad, was taken by a Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei whilst working for the TASS news agency. He did so between 1935 and 1948, and then later for the Pravda newspaper from 1959 to 1976.
“We wanted to do something truly special to mark such a momentous moment in the collective history of the modern world. As a broadcaster specializing in high quality video content, we could think of no better homage to history to commemorate encapsulate our Victory Day campaign than deploying our expertise to inspire audiences around the world to revisit such a poignant, and important moment for us all,” said Boris Gorlov, Head of RT’s Creative Department.
All historically available photographs taken on the roof of the Reichstag by Khaldei, as well as more than 40 supporting photographs of the Reichstag, surrounding buildings, panoramas and architecture were carefully analyzed in order to recreate the exact moment when the picture was taken. In addition, all photos of Yevgeny Khaldei as well as the three flag-bearers Alexey Kovalev, Abdulkhakim Ismailov and Leonid Gorichev from this period of time were examined.
Behind the scenes: making of video — https://youtu.be/zvUOyp1E7bQ
Additional campaign assets — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c4ycJ-joXI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57M_wZhPtE