'' It Happened Here '' premiered in September 1964 at the Cork Film Festival and was shown one month later at the German Mannheim International Film Week . Some Jewish groups protested against the inclusion of seven minutes of footage of a British fascist speaking against the Jews and for euthanasia , claiming the inclusion of this material gives a platform to unapologetic neo-Nazis despite the film 's strongly anti-Nazi theme . In response , this was cut from the original release , though it was restored thirty years later , after Brownlow regained the rights to the film . After eight years of production , the film 's initial release was stormy . Many people were upset by the idea that the villains in the story were not just the Nazis but their British collaborators . The film seemed to be saying that fascism can rise anywhere under the right circumstances , and that people everywhere could fall under its spell . Research prior to the film from various Nazi-occupied territories ( including the Channel Islands ) suggested that this was indeed the case
Cork Film Festival
Cork Film Festival
It Happened Here