Hammer & Tickle plot
"The story of a political system that was laughed out of existence."
Documentary about the role of humor in the history of communism. What jokes were made about communists and what were these people laughing at themselves? During the communist regime in the Soviet Union and the satellite states, people told each other countless jokes about the society in which they lived. There was no freedom of expression for them and they were confronted daily with the contradiction between the reality of political propaganda and that of everyday life. For example, jokes were used to tell the truth in a communist society. It was the only way to resist a totalitarian regime. It ended badly for some pranksters. They were sent to a penal camp, while others became real stage stars. At the same time, those in power also used jokes to mock the opposition. The history of communism is merged into an absurdist story through jokes, skits, manipulated archive material, special animations and interviews.