Även om det inte hände är det sant – Houston, We Have a Problem

Abstract

“Even if it didn’t happen, it’s true” – Houston, We Have a Problem!Houston, We Have a Problem! (director: Žiga Virc, 2016) is a mockumentary film from Slovenia that stirred up controversy in the former Yugoslavia. The film deals with the Yugoslav space program, which Josip Broz Tito sells to the United States under President Kennedy for $2.5 billion. However, it turns out that the Yugoslavs have nothing to sell: their space program is utterly useless. The payment is then converted into a loan, forcing Yugoslavia into an economic crisis. Tito dies, and with more or less direct involvement from the US side, Yugoslavia dies with him. The content of this film, and the debate surrounding it, show that popular culture dealing with the past has inherited traces of the ideologizations of the past. This article presents interpretations of public reactions to the film, but also analyzes what it seeks to convey regarding Yugoslav historiography, through this fable of Yugoslavia, its purported space program, and US involvement.