TIFS - Disco and Atomic War

Soft and Cold: Soft Power in Service of the Cold

On the 7th of October, the documentary "Disco and Atomic War" (2009), directed by Jaak Kilmi, will be screened at the International Film Club of the Film Museum (Tallinn International Film Society or TIFS for short).

The film is preceded by a mini-lecture in English by the literary and cultural scholar Epp Annus, in which she introduces the topics covered by the film and the temporal, political and (socio)cultural context.

The TIFS tickets will also provide FREE entry to the Estonian History Museum in Maarjamäe castle to the exhibition “My free country”, where the audience can further discover the topics covered in the film. https://www.ajaloomuuseum.ee/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/minu-vaba-riik

The curator of the TIFS film program, an award-winning film critic and the author of “101 Estonian Films” Tristan Priimägi has written about the movie:

"Soft and cold: soft power in the service of cold war

The era of deficit in the 1980s created a cult of capitalist consumer society in the Soviet Union, but in addition to the deficit of goods, there was also a shortage of information that worked in favour of the ruling regime – how can you wish for anything if you don't even know what you can want at all? The lust for Western well-being, that was floating around like a vague pink mist, was realised into a specific visual package via Finnish television, which could be viewed illegally in the northern part of the Estonian SSR. Estonia became a stable of an interesting hybrid form of the Cold War, where pop culture and the so-called soft power were used to achieve ideological dominance. The struggle led to interesting confrontations and forms of cooperation. The authorities were also not immune to Western lust and often worked against the official program, allowing themselves and their loved ones western benefits; received the goods with one hand and tried to cover the holes in the walls with the other. A relationship of interdependence between the West and the East arose, based on mutual contempt, empathy, sympathy and pragmatism alike. Both sides tried to take advantage of the other, but were also aware of it. A derivative of the classic "doublethink"."

Tickets 8€/6€ (ticket also provides free entry to the exhibition “My free country”)
Seasonal ticket 20€ (3 screenings)Buy tickets here.

Next screenings in the TIFS autumn season:
-25.11 Serving stereotypes: The eastern European identity post-Soviet Union. “Autumn ball” dir. Veiko Õunpuu
-16.12 From Union to Union: early eurosceptics in Estonian animation. “Hotel E” dir. Priit Pärn + “Cabbage Head” and “Cabbage Head 2 or back to Europe” dir. Riho Unt