Selling Us the Soviets [56min]

The old Soviet block has not been dead long, but it frequently claimed to provide a more happier and contented way of life -- using propaganda methods to try to show that its methods were right. Chris Bowlby looks at footage recently acquired by the British Film Institute of the Soviets trying to sell their way of life to Britain. How does it compare with the BBC archive reports of the old regime? The programme ranges across daily living conditions, huge industrial projects built in the middle of nowhere, the great Soviet science programme, and the desperate attempts by Soviet leaders to look and sound Latin and cool when on holiday in Cuba.