Irene Lusztig, 2006

The Samantha Smith Project

In 1983, at the height of the Cold War nuclear arms race, Samantha Smith, a ten-year-old girl from the small town of Manchester, Maine, wrote a letter to former Soviet president Yuri Andropov pleading for a peaceful resolution to US-Soviet tensions. Her heartfelt and na�ve letter quickly became the unexpected centerpiece of a propaganda whirlwind. Not only was the letter published both in the US and in Pravda, but also President Andropov personally answered the letter, proclaiming his commitment to world peace, and inviting Samantha to be the first American girl to visit the Soviet Union. The very first in a line of child diplomats sent across the Iron Curtain, Samantha�s story became an international headline and more importantly, powerful propaganda that marked the beginning of the denouement of the Cold War. Using the Samantha Smith story as a point of departure, The Samantha Smith Project is an essay film that uses a historical moment to open onto a contemporary landscape, creating a layered and complex cinematic approach to history and politics. Ultimately, The Samantha Smith Project frames a broader investigation US foreign policy and the manufacturing and dismantling of �enemies� to advance political agendas (an investigation newly relevant in today�s charged climate of post-9/11 xenophobia). Far more than an exercise in arcane nostalgia, The Samantha Smith Project challenges its audience to re-examine current political trends (in particular patterns in diplomacy and propaganda vis-�-vis perceived foreign threats), suggesting the enormous importance of maintaining an analytical eye to the historical past in order to make sense of the present.