Virtual Friday Night Films at the Wende: White Nights

After a plane crash in Siberia, a Soviet ballet dancer who defected to the United States is sent to stay with an American tap dancer who defected to the Soviet Union. White Nights pairs legends Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, brought together behind the Iron Curtain by Cold War-era intrigue. The film costars Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini, her American debut. Twyla Tharp contributed choreography, and the film spawned two hit songs: the Phil Collins/Marilyn Martin duet “Separate Lives” and Lionel Richie’s Oscar-winning “Say You, Say Me.”

Locations in Finland, the UK, and Portugal stand in for the USSR, but the director arranged for secret filming of exterior shots in Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg.)

Available to rent on most streaming platforms for $2.99 or $3.99.

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Virtual Film Picks are inspired by the in-person Friday Night Films at the Wende program series. This selection is part of a curated list of weekly movie suggestions that can be watched at home, in conjunction with #WendeOnline.