From Mexico with love: The Soviet Union embraces YESENIA

This podcast tells us the story of how the Mexican melodrama "Yesenia" became the biggest box office hit in Soviet history. In the 1970s, the film flopped in Mexico but became a huge hit in the Soviet Union, touching millions of Soviet people and especially women who recognised themselves and their emotional struggles in that film.

Many people tend to think of the Soviet Union as a place completely shut of from the rest of the world. However, this was not the case. Indian and Latin American cinema were very popular and became central for the Soviet cinema landscape.

The weird backstory of how Yesenia became so important is greatly researched in this mubi podcast, which is generally is one of my favourite podcasts produced.