51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

Since its inception, film has been used for propaganda - disseminating information with a particular slant, whether subtle or obvious - by regimes and independent players across the political spectrum. As the means of production and circuits of distribution become ever more accessible to individuals, we have moved from an era of focused agitprop into a new era of diffused disinformation. In this course, we will do a deep dive into the history of propaganda films, situating them in both the cinematic and ideological contexts of their production and reception. We’ll start with Edison’s war reenactment films; proceed through Griffith’s white supremacist and Eisenstein’s Communist mythmaking; examine both German and British WW2 propaganda films; sample mid-20th-century health education films, including global population control campaigns; discuss the role of films like Battle of Algiers, Hour of the Furnaces, and Underground in revolutionary struggles of the 60s and 70s; analyze the impact of Sony’s Portapak cameras on both Vietnam war coverage and anti-war activist movements; ask why control of state media formed part of the Cold War playbook, via the archival films of Andrei Ujica and Mila Turaljic; dig into insurgent media operations like Sistema Radio Venceremos and propaganda duels during civil wars of the late 20th century; trace the lasting influence of William Greaves as an unconventional activist documentarian; rewind to classic PSAs of the Reagan-era war on drugs and AIDS panic; and consider the more-or-less embedded politics of 21st century PureFlix, Hallmark movies, and superhero films. Throughout, we will be looking for contemporary parallels to and present-day evolutions of the techniques and forms observed in historical propaganda. Students will be expected to write brief responses to assigned readings or screenings, and to co-lead in-class discussions of assigned materials. They will be required to produce one shorter midterm paper or project, and one longer final paper or project, which must be presented in class.