Secrecy, Spectacle, and Power Council for European Studies Translating Secrecy: Te Birth of the Iron Curtain Viewed from the West, the East, and Right Under Cristina Vatulescu, New York University* As he was contemplatng the subject of his future critcally acclaimed movie Secrecy, flmmaker Robb Moss told me that he was worried that secrecy was not an ideal subject for a movie, for how can you flm something that is meant to be invisible? 1 I was surprised by his queston. For me, secrecy had never seemed invisible: instead, it had been a rather showy everyday presence since childhood. Images of secrecy popped before my eyes ready to contradict Robb: signs with photo cameras dramatcally crossed out in red paint; massive buildings housing secret insttutons that we passed by right in the center of town, pretending not to see; afer 1989, documents with various ‘strictly secret’ seals were routnely published in the press. What was playing in my brain was no silent movie, either: there was a strong aural side 1 Peter Galison and Robb Moss, Secrecy (Redacted Pictures, 2008), videorecording. * I thank Neringa Klumbytė for the invitaton to contribute to this issue. I am indebted to Ilya Kliger, Natalia Klimova, and Neringa Klumbytė for thoughtul commentary on an earlier draf. Emma Hamilton, Anastassia Koustriokova, and Nicoleta Marinescu contribut- ed excellent research assistance. It gives me great pleasure to thank Kiki Pop-Eleches for expert help with the creaton of the graphs. The author may be reached at: cristna.vatulescu@nyu.edu Spring 2015 Volume 45 Issue 1 Perspectives on Europe 25 Perspectives on Europe • Spring 2015 | 45:1