Disco and Atomic War

Invited

While the Iron Curtain may have separated the West and the Soviet Union, there is only a small arm of the Baltic Sea separating Finland and Estonia—just small enough to let the television waves of Western-influenced Finnish TV reach the communist Estonian population. Despite the repeated attempts by the Soviets to jam the signals, programs like Dallas and Knight Rider still made it through, leaving viewers who watched in secret only to clamor for more. Through a witty compilation of family photographs, archival television footage, and clever, well-constructed recreations that just might fool you, we learn that the desire for Star Wars, disco dancing, and the answer to “Who shot J.R.?” created a quiet revolution that eventually led to the end of the Cold War. Who knew?  SP

Director

Jaak Kilmi

Producer

Kiur Aarma

Editor

Manfred Vainokivi

Cinematographer

Lauri Laasik

Release Year

2009

Festival Year

2010

Country

Estonia, Finland

Run Time

80 minutes