{"id":468719,"date":"2026-03-11T01:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468719\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T01:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:03:16","slug":"barbican-turns-east-to-rethink-the-cold-war-on-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468719\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbican turns east to rethink the Cold War on screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of us grew up with a fairly fixed image of the Cold War, shaped by Western anxieties about missiles, bunkers and mutually assured destruction. Now, a\u00a0season of films at the Barbican<\/a> flips the perspective, turning its gaze eastwards to explore how filmmakers behind the Iron Curtain imagined the nuclear threat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ikarie XB-1<\/p>\n

Spanning seven films across seven decades, the programme begins in 1960 and moves through a wide range of genres, tones and visual styles, ending with works from the 2020s. Together, they trace how the fear of nuclear catastrophe has evolved and how contemporary filmmakers reinterpret a danger that 20th-century directors could only speculate about.<\/p>\n

The season opens with a 4K restoration of the landmark Czechoslovak sci-fi film Ikarie XB-1 (1963). Set in 2163, it follows a crew of astronauts on a mission to find life in a distant galaxy, only to confront unsettling reflections of their own civilisation. Directed by Jind\u0159ich Pol\u00e1k, the film is widely regarded as a major influence on 2001: A Space Odyssey and remains a cornerstone of modern science fiction.<\/p>\n

It is followed by the UK premiere of a restored print of the Bulgarian film The Sun and the Shadow (1962), alongside the Yugoslav feature Atomic War Bride (1960), which will screen in the UK for the first time.<\/p>\n

The line-up also features two works by the legendary Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, whose meditative, philosophical style brought a distinctive depth to Cold War-era cinema.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the season are two contemporary films that examine the lingering legacy of nuclear brinkmanship \u2014 a reminder that while the Cold War may have ended, its shadow still stretches across the present day.<\/p>\n

Ikarie XB-1<\/p>\n

Wed 1 \u2013 Wed 8 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

Set in the year 2163, one of Czechoslovak cinema\u2019s most influential films sends astronauts on a mission to discover life in a new galaxy, only to confront them with the horrors of their own world.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sun and the Shadow<\/p>\n

Tue 7 \u2013 Sat 18 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

From one of Bulgaria\u2019s most inventive filmmakers comes a summer love story in the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n

Stalker (\u0421\u0442\u0430\u043b\u043a\u0435\u0440)<\/p>\n

Fri 10 \u2013 Sat 11 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

This masterpiece from Andrei Tarkovsky is an essential piece of cinema history \u2013 a journey to a world where the laws of reality begin to dissolve.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n

Atomic War Bride (Rat)<\/p>\n

Wed 15 \u2013 Wed 22 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

An underseen gem from the dawn of the Cold War and co-written by Italian Neorealist filmmaker Cesare Zavattini, Veljko Bulaji\u0107\u2019s Atomic War Bride paved the way for nuclear anxiety cinema.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacrifice (Offret)<\/p>\n

Fri 24 \u2013 Sat 25 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

In his final film, exiled cinema master Andrei Tarkovsky explores a world on the brink of nuclear war.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n

We Live Here + Chornobyl 22<\/p>\n

Wed 29 Apr 2026, 18:30<\/p>\n

A double bill exploring nuclear terror and the consequences of nuclear disaster in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

Details here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most of us grew up with a fairly fixed image of the Cold War, shaped by Western anxieties…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-468719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}