De propagandist

Drawing on previously unpublished interviews, journals, family footage and propaganda films, THE PROPAGANDIST tracks the rise and fall of the Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen. Coming from a very wealthy background meant Teunissen was able to pursue his aspirations as a filmmaker early in life. During the Second World War he became the most powerful man in the Dutch film industry. As head of the Film Department of the SS and the Dutch Nazi party, the NSB, he became known as “the film czar” and “the Dutch Leni Riefenstahl.” This documentary about unbridled ambition and the manipulative power of film questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda. It reveals how propagandists go about their work – how they disseminate images, stories, disinformation and ideology. (IDFA)