Terje Toomistu | 2017 | Estonia | 75’ | EN subs

Cavia has been waiting for a long time to screen Soviet Hippies, since the screening was canceled due to lockdown during Covid in 2020. It is a rare film with an off-beat topic, and director Terje Toomistu will travel to Amsterdam to answer your questions this September.

This is a documentary about a psychedelic subculture that existed in the Soviet Union during the 60s and 70s. As a documentary, it isn't filled with statistics and facts, but is more of a visual and musical journey back in time, exploring this counter-culture underground movement. According to mainstream media the iron curtain kept everything on both sides air-tight, and subcultures didn't exist in the Soviet Union. The truth is that there have always been dissidents and repression on both sides, and this flick dives into a colorful wave of artists, musicians, eclectic drug experimenters, spiritualists, freaks and vagabonds that blossomed in Russia. They were struggling for peace, and like their counterparts in the West, they were met with violence.

Much of the material in this flick is composed of rare Soviet archive footage, and previously unseen 16mm home movies. We also explore the historic gathering that occurred in June 1971, when hippies from all over the country converged on Moscow. This movie also follows people from places like Estonia who still make pilgrimages to Moscow 40 years later to celebrate the incandescent spirit of the original rally.
 

Photo:
Flower power in Smolensk, Russia (Private collection of director)