IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

Name: Celluloid Diplomacy: USIA Films, Propaganda, and the Making of Cold War Latin America
Start: 2026-10-20T16:00:00+0300
End: 2026-10-20T17:00:00+0300

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Celluloid Diplomacy: USIA Films, Propaganda, and the Making of Cold War Latin America

Tuesday October 20, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST

Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall

From 1953 to 1999, the United States Information Agency (USIA) produced or distributed approximately 20,000 motion pictures worldwide. Films focused on Latin America were designed to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives, promoting initiatives such as the Alliance for Progress, anticommunism, and modernization, while countering Soviet influence in the region. Intended primarily for international audiences, these films showcased U.S.-led development projects and encouraged cultural alignment with the United States, offering a counternarrative to the perceived threat of socialism and communism following the Cuban Revolution. Although often categorized as propaganda, USIA films encompass a wide range of subjects and employ diverse cinematic styles. Despite this breadth, cultural and political historians have devoted limited attention to the specific production practices and enduring legacies of this extensive body of work.

While some USIA films remain recognizable in different parts of the world, their visibility has long been constrained by a domestic distribution ban that was only lifted in 2013. More recently, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, has digitized a substantial corpus of USIA films along with extensive accompanying documentation. In the case of Latin America, this includes approximately 750 films covering presidential visits, diplomatic exchanges, U.S. aid programs, instructional campaigns, and sociopolitical representations. Physical 16 mm copies of these films are often dispersed across archives, universities, and cultural institutions throughout Latin America. The growing availability of digital access now creates new opportunities to examine the complex significance of these films, the conditions of their production, and their historical contexts. It also enables fresh interpretations at a moment when institutional stewardship—particularly at NARA—faces uncertainty and when shifting political climates call for renewed engagement with the legacies of the Cold War.

Speakers

Juana Suárez

Associate Professor/ MIAP Director, New York University

Juana Suárez combines careers as a scholar, film critic, and media archivist/preservation activist. Her research interests include Media Preservation, Film Archives, Media Archeology, Administration of Memory Institutions, Film Studies, Latin American/Latino-a Cinema, Cultural Studies... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST
Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall

Long Presentation, In Person

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IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

Juana Suárez

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IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

Juana Suárez

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