“They killing people everywhere for no reason at all but being black.” —Cherry (the wife of Nat Turner played by Aja Naomi King) By Ronald Davis The number of books, novels, articles, plays and movies committed to the life and times of Nat Turner is vast. None of these sources is without controversy. It should […]
Films & Media
The Enemy Within: Cold War History in FX’s The Americans
By Clay Katsky Those who watch the television show The Americans share a secret with its protagonists: they are not a quintessential American couple living in the suburbs of D.C.; they are, in fact, spies for the Soviet Union. Set against the backdrop of a resurgent Cold War in the early 1980s, this serialized spy […]
Chan is Missing (1982)
In this affectionate insider’s portrait of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1970s, director Wayne Wang riffs on the well-known adventures of Charlie Chan, the stereotyped Chinese-American 1930s film detective, by following the meandering investigation of two cab drivers.
Historical Perspectives on Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Reactions to Michael Bay’s latest venture have so far cropped up along predictable lines. Some, looking to the film’s scrupulously non-political focus and standout performances by Krasinski and James Badge Dale, applaud the comparatively restrained take and fact-driven story. Others challenge the film’s simplistic take on a complex geopolitical event, lacking historical context and rife with cultural assumptions.
The Public Historian: Quilombola Seeds
Quilombola Seeds is the second in a three-part series produced by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA). It explores quilombola agricultural systems in São Paulo’s Ribeira Valley, the last reserve of endangered species and wildlife in Brazil’s most heavily industrialized state.
Screening Vietnam: First Blood and Jaws
Today, I will be offering a short meditation on cultural memory and the Vietnam War using two case studies that first appeared as blockbuster novels published during the war, and then adapted into popular films, which premiered after the war had ended.
Magical Realism on Drugs: Colombian History in Netflix’s Narcos
Seen through the eyes of Steven Murphy, the DEA agent whose voice-over narrates the new Netflix series Narcos, Colombia appears to viewers all over the world as a land of sicarios (hired young assassins), putas (whores), and malparidos (the fucked-up). In short, Colombia becomes the quintessential Macondo of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Historical Perspectives on Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness (2011)
By Tatjana Lichtenstein and Jonathan Parker This first section of this post is by Tatjana Lichtenstein Wedged between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Empire, Eastern Europe was the site of unprecedented human and material destruction in the years between 1938 and 1948. As the staging ground for Hitler’s vision for a new racial order in […]
Historical Perspectives on Isao Takahata’s Grave of Fireflies (1998)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) is an uncompromising critique of Japanese society in the waning months of World War II, and a major milestone in the development of one of the world’s foremost animation studios.
Colón 2000: Tour Guides, Cruiseships, and Tourists in Panama
“Colón 2000” is a short video about the experiences of tour guides, taxi drivers, and other service workers who make their living in the historic city of Colón, Panama.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »