Film and the Fall of the Iron Curtain
Film screenings and lectures commemorating the 25th
anniversary of the Iron Curtain 25 years ago in Europe
November 14-15 Coppola Theater SFSU Open to the Public
Seminar held by:
Steven Kovacs: Chair, Cinema Department
Réka Pigniczky, journalist and documentary filmmaker (56Films)
with guest speakers from UC Berkeley, SFSU and the Center for
Terrorism and Intelligence Studies
Friday, November 14, 4-10pm
Réka Pigniczky — “Introduction: Film and the Fall of the Iron Curtain”
Lecture: „The Role of the West in the Collapse of Soviet Socialism,” Edward Walker (UCB, Political Science)
5pm FILM: Farewell Comrades! Part 1 of a 6-part TV documentary series.
Directed by Andrei Nekrasov, written by Jean-Francois Colosimo, György Dalos and Andrei Nekrasov, 52 min.
Synopsis: A comprehensive view of the last fifteen years of Communism, presented chronologically in all the countries involved, featuring the people who lived through it and who brought it to an end.
6.00pm Q&A about the film with Prof. Walker, moderated by Pigniczky and Kovacs
6.30pm Dinner (off campus)
7.30pm Lecture: “The End of the Cold War as the most recent liberation of Eastern Europe from Outside Powers,” Jason Wittenberg, (UC Berkeley Political Science)
8pm FILM: Bolshe Vita, feature film directed by Ibolya Fekete, 1996, Hungary. 100 min.
Synopsis: Russians, Hungarians, and Westerners live unique moments in post-89 Hungary.
9.30pm Q&A about the film with Prof. Wittenberg, moderated by Pigniczky and Kovacs
Saturday, November 15, 9-5pm
9:00 Lecture: „The New Cold War in Europe and Eurasia,” Andrei P. Tsygankov (Political Science and International Relations, SFSU)
9.30am FILM: Farewell Comrades! (Part 5) 52 min.
10.30am Q&A about the film with Andrei Tsygankov, moderated by Pigniczky and Kovacs
11am FILM: Kapitalism, our improved Formula, documentary film, 2010, Romania, directed by Alexandru Solomon. 90 min.
Synopsis: An imaginary return of dictator Ceausescu after 20 years of capitalism in his country, Romania, where he finds a new society but also old habits in the country’s businessmen.
12.30pm Q&A about the film moderated by Pigniczky and Kovacs
1pm Lunch Break (off campus)
2pm Lecture: “The End of the Cold War and the crisis in the Ukraine,” Gordon Hahn, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, Akribis Group.
2:30pm FILM: Three Rooms of Melancholia, a 3-part documentary by Pirjo Honkasalo, Finland, 2004. 105 min.
Synopsis: This award-winning, stunningly beautiful documentary reveals how the Chechen War has psychologically affected children in Russia and in Chechnya. THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA, which poetically blends sustained close-ups of children’s faces with gray, fog-shrouded landscapes, illuminates the emotional devastation wrought on youngsters who have little or no understanding of the historical and political reasons for the bitter conflict. In an even more troubling sense, the film also makes clear how the seeds of hatred are being instilled in young minds that will likely fuel the conflict into the next generation.
4pm Q&A about the film with Gordon Hahn, moderated by Pigniczky and Kovacs, summary of course.
