Screening Propaganda: The Reception of Soviet and American Film Screenings in Rural Iceland, 1950-1975

During the Cold War, films and film screenings played a major role in the politics of the Soviet Union and the United States. The two superpowers attempted to exploit the cinema as a medium for creating a positive image of their respective ideologies, political systems and cultures, particularly abroad. This article explains how films from the superpowers were distributed in Iceland, where the Cultural Liaison of Iceland and the USSR (MÍR) and the United States Information Service (USIS) held regular screenings and distributed their films and projection equipment around the country. It addresses the work of the MÍR and the USIS in rural Iceland, how Icelandic screening organizers perceived their efforts, the image these programs acquired in society, and the experience of Icelandic audiences at these screenings from 1950 to 1975. It argues that the cinematic experience is not limited solely to each individual's perceptions while the picture is playing on the screen but comes into existence and gains new dimension through social interaction both inside and outside the venue of screening.