Rethinking the Cinematic Cold War

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).

“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.” • Choice

• Introduction: Expanding the Cinematic Cold War or: How We Learned to Cross Boundaries and Look at Bigger PicturesStefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio, and Maurizio ZinniChapter 1. The Burden of Winning: American Cinematographic Policy in Italy in the Years of the Allied Military Administration (1943–1945)Maurizio ZinniChapter 2. The Struggle to Save Progressive Unions: Carl Marzani and Union FilmsRosemary Feurer and Charles MusserChapter 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 MaggioreChapter 4. An Impossible Cinematic Hegemony: Soviet Films in Italy between Postwar and the Cold War (1944–1953)Stefano PisuChapter 5. Soviet Cinematic Diplomacy from New York to Beijing, 1949: Sergei Gerasimov and his Documentary FilmsMarsha SiefertChapter 6. The Rise and Fall of Sino-Soviet Film Festival Diplomacy (1957-1966)Elena RazlogovaChapter 7. Making Ground for Film Export: Soviet Films’Competition with Hollywood in India in the 1950-1960sSeveryan DyakonovChapter 8. The Film Market at the Time of Independence: France’s Former African Colonies and the Cinematic Cold War in the 1960sGabrielle ChomentowskiChapter 9. The Troubles of Non-Alignment: International Pacifism, Transnational Style and Production Strategies in the Case of Rat (Atomic War Bride, Veliko Bulajić, 1960)Francesco PitassioChapter 10. From Anticommunism to Third-Worldism: The Transformation of Mexican Cinema in the Cold War of the 1970sIsrael RodrìguezChapter 11. Cold War and Film Festivals in the Aftermath of 1968Dina IordanovaChapter 12. To Catch Up and Overtake… Europe: Technology Transfer and Its Limits in the Soviet Cinema under BrezhnevCatriona KellyChapter 13. Missed Opportunities and Unexpected Success: Film Relationships between France and the GDR in the 1970sPerrine ValChapter 14. The Chilean Cultural Project during Unidad Popular (1970–1973): The Interview between Roberto Rossellini and Salvador AllendeMargherita MoroChapter 15. ‘Ideological Threat of Italian Movies’: The KGB, Mafia, Punk-Rock, and Rise of Neo-Fascism among Soviet Youth (1982-1985)Sergei ZhukConclusion: Close Encounters around the WorldStefano Pisu, Francesco Pitassio and Maurizio ZinniFilmographyIndex