| Sumario: | This paper seeks to reconstruct the reception of Viva villa! -an American movie about revolutionary leader Francisco Villa- in different parts of the world between 1934 and 1940. It is evident that the film found followers in many places, regardless of ideological differences: in National Socialist Germany, in the Soviet Union and, particularly, in Republican Spain. Only in Mexico were official reactions negative. What this paper attempts to evince is the power of modern media -as was cinema at the time- to create through their representations historical imaginaries that, on the one side, have a global reach but, on the other, acquire their meaning in their place of reception through a complex interaction -or competition- with existing imaginaries built upon historical experiences and specific political interests.
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