Disco and Atomic War

General Information

Original Title
Disko ja tuumasoda
Author/Creator
Kilmi, Jaak, director.
Language
Estonian, English, Russian, Finnish.
Subtitles
English
Published
Estonia : Eetriüksus, Helsinki Filmi Oy, 2009.
Physical Description
DVD-ROM (77 min.)
Digital ver. identifier
HU_OSA_00004055

Contents/Summary

Summary
From the 1950s onward, Estonia was the battleground for a peculiar information war, where the Soviet regime went head-to-head with Western pop-culture. Even at the height of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain couldn't stop the people from reaching out for the forbidden cultural fruit on the other side. Despite a ban on western media, many Estonians were able to pick up Finnish radio and television broadcasts from across the border with homemade antennas. They watched Western TV programs like "Dallas," soft porn like "Emmanuelle," science-fiction "Star Wars," and footage of disco dance music that drifted over the Iron Curtain via airwaves from a super-tall Finnish broadcast tower not more than 50 miles away. Jaak Kilmi's father, an electronics engineer, even started up his own secret business inserting decoders into Estonian and Russian TV sets. These broadcasts became windows to a world of dreams that the authorities could not fully close. Disco and Atomic War depicts the incomparable role that the "soft power" of Western popular culture played in shaping the worldview of Soviet children.

Subjects

Genre
Documentary films

Bibliographic Information

Title Translation
Disco and Atomic War
Note
Verzio Film Festival Submission
Library Special Collection
Verzio Film Festival Submission

Holdings

Item Type Current Location Call Number Status Shelving Location Public Note
DVD-ROMOSA Film LibraryFL Record 2435Available--
Digital filmOSA Film LibraryFL Record 2435
(HU_OSA_00004055.mp4)
AvailableAccess Copy, MP4 format