Oppression in Eastern Europe Before the Collapse of the Berlin Wall

Through Jan Svěrák’s Oscar-winning film Kolya (1996), this lecture offers a nuanced cinematic view into realities, moral negotiations and political anxieties that shaped Eastern Europe in the two decades preceding the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. Although the film is set in Communist Czechoslovakia and centers on the unlikely bond between a disillusioned Prague cellist and a young Russian boy, its narrative opens onto the broader cultural, historical, ideological and emotional landscape of the Eastern Bloc countries, such as Poland, Hungary or East Germany. The psychological burdens of authoritarianism vividly depicted are discussed in class, as is the persistent human resilience that ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Note: Students will enjoy this class most if they watch the film in advance. Please use the link below to view the film Koyla. The link will also be emailed to registered students.

Kolja (1996) HD EN - Kolya

Karen von Kunes, Ph.D., teaches Czech and Slovak film and literature at the University of Toronto. Prior to her current appointment, she spent three decades on the faculty at Yale University, where she taught Czech Film, Language and Comparative Literature. During her ten-year tenure at Harvard University, she revitalized Czech Studies across both Harvard College and the Harvard Extension School. She has published extensively; her latest book, Milan Kundera: Known and Unknown, was released in 2025 by Bloomsbury. Her current research examines film director Miloš Forman’s influence on psychiatry. Professor von Kunes is also the author of numerous works on the Czech language and of a novel on diaspora, Among the Sinners. She has received multiple academic honors, including recognition in The Princeton Review’s Best 300 Professors, published by Random House. She is fluent in five European languages.