Na de Lente van ’68: een kleine liefdesgeschiedenis (2001)

After the spring of ’68 is a film about falling in love across a

political, cultural and geographic divide. It tells of Simon, a
                  Dutch student in Moscow, who meets and marries Russian Zoya in
                  the spring of 1968. Simon returns to the Netherlands, expecting
                  his wife to follow shortly afterwards when her exit visa is
                  granted. Her application is refused, but the couple are
                  determined to overcome the political bariers to their love and be
                  reunited. A child is born to Zoya in Moscow: director Aliona van
                  der Horst relates her parents’ struggle in this tender account of
                  family history caught up in international politics.

                  In the climate of the Cold War, any request to leave the Soviet
                  Union was regarded with suspicion by Soviet authorities. When the
                  Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, the world watched
                  this act of violence in dismay. Communists across the world were
                  appalled and felt alienated from Soviet politics, the Dutch
                  communist party being no exception. Officials in Moscow attempted
                  to make Zoya a pawn in the political game of restoring relations.
                  Dutch communist party representatives refused to help Simon and
                  Zoya by writing to the Soviets. Placing his personal situation in
                  this political context, Simon states in the film that party
                  politics showed itself to be inadequate in dealing with human
                  problems: ‘The idea I had wasn’t fulfilled. That hurts'.

                  In April 1972, on the tenth application, an exit visa was finally
                  granted to Zoya. This turn around was just as unexpected as the
                  nine rejections had been. Simon and Zoya were reunited in the
                  Netherlands, but nothing was as they had hoped. The strain and
                  disappointments of the years of separation had taken their toll.

                  To tell her parents’ story, Van der Horst weaves together
                  archival footage, home movies and photographs with contemporary
                  interviews. Simon shows love letters to his beloved Zoya that he
                  has not read since writing them 30 years previously. These
                  provide a linking thread through the film, expressing Simon's
                  commitment to Zoya and feelings of helplessness: ‘Our happiness
                  depends on how the political wind blows’. The film constructs a
                  rich visual fabric, evoking memories, passions and regrets, and
                  explores how an intimate human story was affected so strongly by
                  world history. After the spring of ’68 is a tale of determination
                  and disappointment that testifies to the strength of the human
                  spirit.