The Propagandist

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Jan Teunissen (1898-1975) loved films. He loved them so much, he shot daily home movies of his children, became a professional director, and made the first Dutch film with sound. And when the Nazis occupied Holland, he started making films for them too.

Was he a true believer? An anti-Semite? An opportunist? And does it matter?

THE PROPAGANDIST tells Teunissen’s story through home movies, newsreels, propaganda films, and extensive interviews conducted decades after the war by two historians. Although he was head of the Dutch Nazi Party’s Film Department — overseeing films on everything from the genetic superiority of Dutch cows to celebrations of Nazi leadership — Teunissen always claimed he was just trying to build the local film industry and create opportunities for film crews.

In addition to interviews with Teunissen, THE PROPAGANDIST also includes archival conversations from his fellow wartime filmmakers and cinematographers, some of whom worked hard to eradicate all traces of their Nazi past.

In an age of rising authoritarianism, THE PROPAGANDIST is an engrossing study of how even those serving the most brutal regimes minimize their contributions, and ultimately try to justify their actions.

“[A] chilling portrait... A timely watch for anyone interested in how brutality and repression is justified by its perpetrators, and how short memories and the desire not to dwell on the traumatic past can sow poison seeds.” —Screen Daily

“Questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda and the role of propagandists – how they spread images, narratives, misinformation and ideology.” —Variety

“This layered documentary is highly recommended. In our internet-focused 21st century, a broad range of ages should see what history has to say about propaganda and racism, its hallmarks and its guises.” —Educational Media Reviews Online

“Rigorous and unsettling... By centering on Jan Teunissen and expanding outward to the broader film and advertising industries, the documentary provides rare insight into how propaganda practitioners often escaped accountability and continued shaping media landscapes long after the war ended. Highly Recommended!” —Video Librarian

“Staggering. Bouwman’s work slowly and subtly achieves unnerving implications as the curtain is pulled back on collusions underpinning umpteen cultural foundations all over the world, not just in the Netherlands.” —High on Films

“Well made... another part of a puzzle that should warn people of where these things inevitably lead.” —reDocumented

“This excellent documentary is about unlimited ambition, and the manipulative power of film questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda... An excellent tool to analyze the many wrongs in our present world.” —Modern Times Review

“Luuk Bouwman has constructed a thoughtful and absorbing film, packed with well-chosen and archival footage, allowing the audience to dwell on the role of propaganda (and propagandists) and the manipulative power of the moving image.” —Business Doc Europe

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Main credits

Bouwman, Luuk (film director)
Bouwman, Luuk (screenwriter)
Binnedijk, Rik (screenwriter)
Roomans, Ilja (film producer)

Other credits

Cinematography, Jan Pieter Tuinstra; editor, Sander Vos; music, Tijmen van Tol, Mathilde Wantenaar.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

; "The Propagandist"; Icarus Films; documentary; doc; World War II; WWII; Netherlands; Dutch; Nazi; Germany; SS; cinema studies; film history; Amsterdam; German occupation; marketing; biography; bio; history; advertising; ; "The Propagandist"; Icarus Films