cold war – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SHADOW LINES – Review by Diane Carson

May 5, 2022May 8, 2022 Diane Carson amazon prime, cold war, Russian and Finnish history, Shadow Lines, truth-based, tv series, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen

Based on historical records, Shadow Lines dramatizes a complicated, multilayered series of events in 1956, as Urho Kaleva Kekkonen becomes Finland’s President. A flash point for the Cold War, Finland must struggle and surreptitiously fight to maintain its neutrality as Russia infringes on its fragile, threatened independence. With more overtones than feel comfortable right now, the 18 episode series echoes across the decades with contemporary geopolitical issues.

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THE JUMP – Review by Kristen Page-Kirby

November 16, 2020November 21, 2020 Kristen Page-Kirby 0 Comments cold war, docmentaries, Giedrė Žickytė, political asylum, Simas Kudirka, the jump

The Jump is about a leap into faith by a young Russian who tried to leap to freedom, but missed by inches. In 1970, Simas Kudirka, a sailor, on a Soviet vessel off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard jumped ship to seek asylum on the nearby USS Vigilant. a coast guard ship. The documentary chronicles his story.

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SPUTNIK MANIA – Retroview by Jennifer Merin

July 31, 2019August 1, 2019 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments apollo 11, cold war, david hoffman, documentary, race to pace, sputnik mania

Timed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of America’s moon landing, the Apollo 11 documentary reminds us that humans are capable of making miracles happen, but it also calls up memories of the fearsome USA vs USSR race to space. David Hoffman’s Sputnik Mania (2007) chronicles the space race rivalry in a way that still resonates today.

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COLD WAR – Review by Diane Carson

January 31, 2019 Diane Carson 0 Comments cold war, joanna kulig, oscars, Pawel Pawlikovski, polish films

Oppressive political policies often come most alive when embedded in strong personal stories. That’s the case in writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War. In 1949 Poland, three workers travel the countryside in a van collecting folk music on audiotape all in honor of the nation. A favored few singers and dancers will be chosen to represent their People’s culture.

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COLD WAR – Review by Marietta Steinhart (Guest Post)

January 23, 2019December 29, 2019 awfj-admin 0 Comments cold war, joanna kulig, marietta steinhart, oscars, Pawel Pawlikovski, the female gaze

Four years after winning an Oscar for best-foreign-language film for Ida, author and director Pawel Pawlikowski has returned with three-time Oscar-nominated Cold War, a meticulously composed story of love shattered by the Iron Curtain, and temperaments. It will break your heart, but never mind: despair has never looked so gorgeous.

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COLD WAR – Review by Martha K. Baker

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 Martha K. Baker 0 Comments cold war, Ida, joanna kulig, Pawel Pawlikovski

Cold War is blurbed as a romance, but the title refers as much to the plot as to the political and temporal setting of Pawel Pawlikovski‘s haunting film. It begins in 1949, two years after a communist government came to power in the Polish People’s Republic. Ethnomusicologists are roaming the land, auditioning for people’s choruses to celebrate Poland.