Soviet

The Soviet Story is a 2008 documentary film about Soviet Communism and Soviet-German collaboration before 1941 written and directed by Edvins Šnore and sponsored by the UEN Group in the European Parliament.

On 22nd June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa–the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia. Four million troops, backed by 19 panzer divisions, fought their way east, confident of total victory within a just few short months. They were wrong.

On 22nd June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa–the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia. Four million troops, backed by 19 panzer divisions, fought their way east, confident of total victory within a just few short months. They were wrong.

From St Petersburg (boat crashes in the Winter Canal) to Moscow (teary weddings and near-arrests in Red Square), a post-Glasnost study of the Russian people, schools, home-life, cultural events. The young Pioneers of Kiev, the opera of Odessa and a trek through Georgia, experiencing the ruggedly independent Georgians. Impressive architecture, wonderful characters. A true eye opener to life in modern Russia.

There hardly is a time in world history more politically polarized than the 20th century, which divided the globe in two camps — capitalism and communism — divided at the height of the divergence by the infamous Iron Curtain. The Cold War was very much a war of ideologies and each side relied heavily on the ideological unity of its people, often employing the power of the visual arts — graphic design, animation, illustration — to drive its message home. From 1924 to perestroika the USSR produced 41 animated propaganda films. Their target was the new nation and their goal was to win over the hearts and minds of the Soviet people.

The hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

The Soviet Union was officially formed in 1922, a country, a political experiment, an ideal, a great scar across history. Officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR was a one-party state, governed, controlled, and tormented by a single party rule. That of the Communist Party.

During the 1980s Russia fought a disastrous war in Afghanistan. Here we offer the definitive documentary on the war, and ask if there are any lessons to be learnt from the Soviet experience.