Simon Gutman creating poster for the film 'The Soviet Latvia'

This is a picture of me, photographed as I was drawing the poster in 1951 for the film "The Soviet Latvia? in 1951. In order to print it I had to acquire permission at Glavlit [the State Committee on Literature], get approvals from numerous authorities, and obtain all the rights. This photo was published in the newspaper ?Kurzemsky Golos?.

The story was the same with my caricatures: I had to approve them with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the highest level of bureaucracy. I was summoned to the ministry, I had serious talks with the officials about politics, the current international situation, I presented my views and was explained the official position. My political cartoons were published in "The Soviet Latvia? - the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia, and general caricatures in the magazine ?Dadzis? (?Burdock?). I still have an extensive archive of my caricatures, but I have handed over my film posters - the originals - to the Latvian Cinema Museum.