As part of the former USSR, Estonia was geographically closer to (supposedly) democratic Finland than the communist powers in Moscow. When Finland began to broadcast television, they showed not only their own programs, but American ones as well. The north coastal Estonian city of Tallinn was only 80 km from Helsinki, and as much as the Soviets tried, they couldn’t stop the signal. Disco and Atomic War is director Jaak Kimli’s tribute to the innovation and drive of his people not to be kept behind the Iron Curtain, and the incredible power of popular culture. Using a combination of found footage, archival film, and staged scenes, Kimli has created a doc very much in the style of American experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin. Kimli relates how he wrote letters to his cousin recounting the television series Dallas, and how his cousin would go from house to house in her village, recreating the show to the delight of the people.
