Film Screening: Soviet Hippies

Join us for a screening of Soviet Hippies preceded by a closing reception for the exhibitions Promote, Tolerate, Ban: Art and Culture in Cold War Hungary and Socialist Flower Power: Soviet Hippie Culture.

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. Within the Soviet system, a colorful crowd of artists, musicians, freaks, vagabonds, and other long-haired drop-outs created their own system, which connected those who believed in peace, love, and freedom. More than forty years later, a group of eccentric hippies from Estonia took a road trip to Moscow, where the hippies still gather annually on June 1 for a celebration related to the tragic event in 1971, when thousands of Soviet hippies were arrested by the KGB. In Soviet Hippies, a documentary directed by Terje Toomitsu, a journey through time and dimensions goes deep into the psychedelic underground world in which Soviet hippies strove for freedom.

Juliane Fürst, curator of the exhibition Socialist Flower Power and co-producer of the documentary Soviet Hippies, and filmmaker Terje Toomitsu will hold a Q&A following the film.