I think the newsreel footage is an excellent idea. One I hadn't thought of.
I'm thinking concentration camp footage, people getting shot in the head, Tibetan monks setting themselves on fire in protest, etc...wouldn't necessarily have to be Soviet brutality. It could be murder, violence, horror throughout all of Human history...and if these aliens are interdimensional beings or whatever, you could even include "future" events like 9/11, Iraq and so forth...ALL of the worst Human atrocities throughout thousands of years pouring into her head at once maybe building up to visions of a complete future nuclear holocaust. We're talking a lot of quick, shocking cuts from a lot of different sources creating a whirlwind of negativity that seems to swallow her and finally destoys her.
It could work.