• DOI:10.1080/01439685.2015.1134107
• Corpus ID: 155781953

A foot in the door: the Lacy–Zarubin agreement and Soviet-American film diplomacy during the Khrushchev era, 1953–1963

@article{Kozovoi2016AFI,
  title={A foot in the door: the Lacy–Zarubin agreement and Soviet-American film diplomacy during the Khrushchev era, 1953–1963},
  author={Andrei Kozovoi},
  journal={Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television},
  year={2016},
  volume={36},
  pages={21 - 39}
}

• Andrei Kozovoi
• Published 2 January 2016
• Political Science
• Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

Signed in Washington, DC on the 27 January 1958, the Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges – known as the ‘Lacy–Zarubin agreement’ – brought cinema to the forefront of the cold war. It arranged for the organization of premieres, ‘cinema weeks’, visits by Soviet and American delegations, as well as film exchanges and co-productions. A by-product of the era of ‘peaceful coexistence’, the agreement offered the Soviet Union unprecedented opportunities for cultural expansion. While the political relaxation following Stalin’s death known as the ‘Thaw’ drastically improved the quality of Soviet movie production, the Soviet film industry still needed a major boost to improve exports. This paper argues that the 1958 agreement did just that, allowing the main film import/export organization, Sovexportfilm, to benefit from direct contacts with Hollywood studios. The benefit was not evident from the start, however, since film exchange was influenced not only by the political context of the cold war but also by economic difficulties encountered by the US film industry. Moreover, cinematic diplomacy and commerce were the constant targets of conservatives in both countries. Despite many ups and downs, the 1958 agreement remained in force and ultimately helped pave the way for the Oscar-winning 1969 hit, War and Peace.