Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War
The Struggle for Hearts and Minds Goes Global
Published on 1. March 2025
Book
Hardback
316 pages
978-1-80539-876-9 (ISBN)
Description
Historical consensus increasingly views the Cold War period as a multifaceted conflict which extended beyond the borders of the USSR and USA, encompassing both cultural and diplomatic history. Debate remains, however, about how best to balance the Cold War as a cultural event with the existence of Cold War culture. Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War provides a fresh reassessment of this period, highlighting how the convergence of geopolitical interests, cultural production and exchange, and technological and media history shaped a unique epoch. Consequently, this volume seeks to diagnose the role cinema played in expanding the ideological outlook of artists, audiences, and policymakers.
Reviews / Votes
"Individual chapters... are well researched and cover remarkable ground. Interesting foci include international film festivals; the cinema cultures of India, Mexico, and post-colonial Africa; and the impact of Western film technology and Italian mafia films on the USSR. This volume is a welcome contribution to both cinema and Cold War studies, and many of its essays are suitable for advanced undergraduates...Recommended." * ChoiceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
2 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
582 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80539-876-9 (9781805398769)
DOI
10.3167/9781805398769
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Stefano Pisu | Francesco Pitassio | Maurizio Zinni
Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War
The Struggle for Hearts and Minds Goes Global
E-Book
03/2025
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Stefano Pisu | Francesco Pitassio | Maurizio Zinni
Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War
The Struggle for Hearts and Minds Goes Global
E-Book
03/2025
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Persons
Stefano Pisu is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Cagliari. Previously an International Fellow at Oxford University's Research Center in the Humanities, his work considers the history of international cultural relations through cinema. His publications include Il XX secolo sul red carpet. Politica, economia e cultura nei festival internazionali del cinema, 1932-1976 (Franco Angeli, 2016) and La cortina di celluloide. Il cinema italo-sovietico nella Guerra Fredda (Mimesis, 2019).
Content
Introduction: Expanding the Cinematic Cold War or: How We Learned to Cross Boundaries and Look at Bigger Pictures
Stefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio, and Maurizio Zinni
Chapter 1. The Burden of Winning: American Cinematographic Policy in Italy in the Years of the Allied Military Administration (1943-1945)
Maurizio Zinni
Chapter 2. The Struggle to Save Progressive Unions: Carl Marzani and Union Films
Rosemary Feurer and Charles Musser
Chapter 3. A 'Trojan Horse in the Enemy Camp': Vatican Plans for a Catholic Third Way on the Chessboard of Cold War-Era Cinema (1939-1958)
Gianluca della Maggiore
Chapter 4. An Impossible Cinematic Hegemony: Soviet Films in Italy between Postwar and the Cold War (1944-1953)
Stefano Pisu
Chapter 5. Soviet Cinematic Diplomacy from New York to Beijing, 1949: Sergei Gerasimov and his Documentary Films
Marsha Siefert
Chapter 6. The Rise and Fall of Sino-Soviet Film Festival Diplomacy (1957-1966)
Elena Razlogova
Chapter 7. Making Ground for Film Export: Soviet Films'Competition with Hollywood in India in the 1950-1960s
Severyan Dyakonov
Chapter 8. The Film Market at the Time of Independence: France's Former African Colonies and the Cinematic Cold War in the 1960s
Gabrielle Chomentowski
Chapter 9. The Troubles of Non-Alignment: International Pacifism, Transnational Style and Production Strategies in the Case of Rat (Atomic War Bride, Veliko Bulajic, 1960)
Francesco Pitassio
Chapter 10. From Anticommunism to Third-Worldism: The Transformation of Mexican Cinema in the Cold War of the 1970s
Israel Rodriguez
Chapter 11. Cold War and Film Festivals in the Aftermath of 1968
Dina Iordanova
Chapter 12. To Catch Up and Overtake... Europe: Technology Transfer and Its Limits in the Soviet Cinema under Brezhnev
Catriona Kelly
Chapter 13. Missed Opportunities and Unexpected Success: Film Relationships between France and the GDR in the 1970s
Perrine Val
Chapter 14. The Chilean Cultural Project during Unidad Popular (1970-1973): The Interview between Roberto Rossellini and Salvador Allende
Margherita Moro
Chapter 15. 'Ideological Threat of Italian Movies': The KGB, Mafia, Punk-Rock, and Rise of Neo-Fascism among Soviet Youth (1982-1985)
Sergei Zhuk
Conclusion: Close Encounters around the World
Stefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio and Maurizio Zinni
Filmography
Index
Stefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio, and Maurizio Zinni
Chapter 1. The Burden of Winning: American Cinematographic Policy in Italy in the Years of the Allied Military Administration (1943-1945)
Maurizio Zinni
Chapter 2. The Struggle to Save Progressive Unions: Carl Marzani and Union Films
Rosemary Feurer and Charles Musser
Chapter 3. A 'Trojan Horse in the Enemy Camp': Vatican Plans for a Catholic Third Way on the Chessboard of Cold War-Era Cinema (1939-1958)
Gianluca della Maggiore
Chapter 4. An Impossible Cinematic Hegemony: Soviet Films in Italy between Postwar and the Cold War (1944-1953)
Stefano Pisu
Chapter 5. Soviet Cinematic Diplomacy from New York to Beijing, 1949: Sergei Gerasimov and his Documentary Films
Marsha Siefert
Chapter 6. The Rise and Fall of Sino-Soviet Film Festival Diplomacy (1957-1966)
Elena Razlogova
Chapter 7. Making Ground for Film Export: Soviet Films'Competition with Hollywood in India in the 1950-1960s
Severyan Dyakonov
Chapter 8. The Film Market at the Time of Independence: France's Former African Colonies and the Cinematic Cold War in the 1960s
Gabrielle Chomentowski
Chapter 9. The Troubles of Non-Alignment: International Pacifism, Transnational Style and Production Strategies in the Case of Rat (Atomic War Bride, Veliko Bulajic, 1960)
Francesco Pitassio
Chapter 10. From Anticommunism to Third-Worldism: The Transformation of Mexican Cinema in the Cold War of the 1970s
Israel Rodriguez
Chapter 11. Cold War and Film Festivals in the Aftermath of 1968
Dina Iordanova
Chapter 12. To Catch Up and Overtake... Europe: Technology Transfer and Its Limits in the Soviet Cinema under Brezhnev
Catriona Kelly
Chapter 13. Missed Opportunities and Unexpected Success: Film Relationships between France and the GDR in the 1970s
Perrine Val
Chapter 14. The Chilean Cultural Project during Unidad Popular (1970-1973): The Interview between Roberto Rossellini and Salvador Allende
Margherita Moro
Chapter 15. 'Ideological Threat of Italian Movies': The KGB, Mafia, Punk-Rock, and Rise of Neo-Fascism among Soviet Youth (1982-1985)
Sergei Zhuk
Conclusion: Close Encounters around the World
Stefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio and Maurizio Zinni
Filmography
Index