Here's a PDF of this guide. drive.google.com/file/d/1QEpC...

Maxim Gorky, in 1934, articulating how easily nihilistic artists align with fascist ideology:

I had a fantastic time talking with comrades @jasonachristian.bsky.social, @tonyjballas.bsky.social, and @ptklein.com about one of my favorite films! Check it out and follow @coldwarcinema.com!

People are going to want to tune into this new episode of @coldwarcinema.com with our friend and comrade Taylor R. Genovese. It’s a very good discussion, and I learned a lot! coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-13-iva...

New episode is live! We invited our friend and comrade Taylor R. Genovese to help us discuss Andrei Tarkovsky’s debut feature film Ivan's Childhood (1962), Tarkovsky’s aesthetic vision, the concept of “toska,” the Great Patriotic War, and more! Link below: coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-13-iva...

Back to Larry Ceplair’s THE MARXIST AND THE MOVIES, about Paul Jarrico. Super passage about 1954. Even after the Senate condemned McCarthy, the red scare & attack on CPUSA members continued. 🗃️ #ArchivePrep

After a life-changing visit to Cuba this week, I got inspired to write an essay about the documentary filmmaker Santiago Álvarez, the brutal US embargo, and the Cuban people's revolutionary resilience. I hope people enjoy it! notesonradicalcinema.substack.com/p/movie-watc...

New episode of @coldwarcinema.com drops this weekend, so stay tuned! Here’s a hint ⬇️

Heads up, @coldwarcinema.com listeners! @tonyjballas.bsky.social and I will be joining C. Derick Varn on his YouTube channel The Varn Vlog to discuss our podcast, Cold War history, propaganda, nuclear anxiety and more. The episode drops on July 7. Tune in! www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKhP...

“But the best of Cuban cinema is complex and nuanced, not the one-dimensional didacticism imagined by detractors, and the creators always prioritize aesthetic concerns…” A terrific read from @coldwarcinema.com’s @jasonachristian.bsky.social on his recent visit to Cuba.

ICYM: my piece on Cuban cinema, sports, and the blockade

After a life-changing visit to Cuba this week, I got inspired to write an essay about the documentary filmmaker Santiago Álvarez, the brutal US embargo, and the Cuban people's revolutionary resilience. I hope people enjoy it! notesonradicalcinema.substack.com/p/movie-watc...

El Cine Charles Chaplin in Havana, Cuba

Today is Victory Day, a celebration of the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany (in 1945), ending the Great Patriotic War. (We call the war WWII in the US). Check out our episode of @coldwarcinema.com on Ballad of a Soldier, a film set during the war. coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-9-ball...

Our radical cinema educational project, Resistance Cinema, was covered by a local magazine here in Atlanta. voyageatl.com/interview/co...

Oh man, just learned that the great cinema illustrator Tony Stella has died. Tony once created a portrait of Nick Nolte to accompany a piece I wrote for @brightwalldarkroom.com on Paul Schrader’s Affliction. RIP. www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2019/11/22/t...

Vernon, Greenfield #30 📻🎶 THIS WEEK FEATURES: the usual freeform mix of music from me, DJ TY ➕ The Poet's Seat w/ Michael Earl Craig ➕ Film Rec of the Week w/ @jasonachristian.bsky.social www.mixcloud.com/vernongreenf...

I was invited on the Left of the Projector podcast to discuss Nicholas Ray's THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948). Check it out! leftoftheprojector.com/episode/they...

Suitcase is packed with the items listed on the right. The total cost came to $480, which has already been covered by donations. Thanks to all who contributed. I'm still seeking money for organizations on the ground, if you're feeling like you can spare anything.✊🇨🇺

ICYMI: our episode with the literary critic Ryan Ruby on New German Cinema, doomed adventurism, David Bowie's Berlin, Fassbinder, Kluge, the decline of the European left, and more! coldwarcinema.com/bonus-new-ge...

It's been said countless times, but I fear that so many young people will never recover from using AI multiple times a day as a substitute for thinking. It's getting to the point where many people cannot make a single decision by themselves.

New bonus episode of @coldwarcinema.com is live! We had the critic Ryan Ruby on to discuss New German Cinema, the Red Army Faction, and the cultural history of post-war Berlin. This is an excellent discussion. I learned a lot, and I think you will too. Link below: coldwarcinema.com/bonus-new-ge...

good morning, you are loved 🫂

The Atlantic has helped shape elite opinion on Gaza by packaging dehumanizing arguments and one-sided narratives in the language of serious, high-minded journalism.

Just donated. Won't you join me?

Happy birthday, Volodya. We need you now more than ever. vimeo.com/893084975?sh...

🙏 🐐 🎉 🎂

Hello, if anyone is feeling generous, I am traveling to Cuba soon and bringing all the over-the-counter medicine and medical supplies I can carry, for which I am seeking donations. If I get funds beyond the cost of these supplies, I will donate all of it to Cuban people and organizations. Thanks!

Hello, if anyone is feeling generous, I am traveling to Cuba soon and bringing all the over-the-counter medicine and medical supplies I can carry, for which I am seeking donations. If I get funds beyond the cost of these supplies, I will donate all of it to Cuban people and orgs.

This is one hell of an amazing movie. One of my parents' favorites, a real classic.

It was truly a pleasure to discuss Jean Renoir's GRAND ILLUSION with @cinemaroni.bsky.social on her podcast Seeing Faces in the Movies. Link below: seeingfacesinmovies.com/episodes/gra...

My favorite of my own pieces of film criticism 👇

4/13/55: Jules Dassin's Rififi More: @jhoberman.bsky.social: www.criterion.com/current/post... @juliasirmons.bsky.social / @crimereads.bsky.social: crimereads.com/french-jewel... @jasonachristian.bsky.social / @brightwalldarkroom.com: www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/08/28/e...

There's a great Irish documentary about this attempted coup called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2003), which I highly recommend. Here's a link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5n...

The Battle of Chile, Part 3: The Power of the People (1979, Patricio Guzmán)

What AI enthusiasts don't get is that I don't want to save time on writing projects. I want to reflect and form new thoughts as I write. I want false starts and trial and error, to slow down and solve problems, in part as an affront to this efficiency-obsessed capitalist society.

Huge, huge thanks to everyone who listens to @jasonachristian.bsky.social, @tonyjballas.bsky.social, and I over on @coldwarcinema.com every few weeks. It’s so rewarding to share these movies and to have conversations about how and why movies and history matter.

Fantastic company to be in! Thanks for the shout out, @historyonfilm.bsky.social!

Hello! I would like to express my gratitude to the listeners of @coldwarcinema.com. Our podcast is currently the 40th most downloaded film history pod on Apple in the United States, and 72nd in the UK. Lots of great episodes on deck, so stay tuned! rephonic.com/charts/apple... coldwarcinema.com

Ep 63: Dutt’s Fascism and Social Revolution ch5 now playing on all platforms youtube.com/shorts/mjhT6...

The University of Arkansas is moving ahead with terminating Shirin Saeidi, a scholar who literally wrote the book on Women and Politics in Iran, over tweets critical of Israel. Just colossally stupid in this moment. arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...

Let me recommend a beautiful, powerful album to you: www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7MZ...

First bit of good news for Cuba in months: a Russian oil tanker finally reaching the island, offering a temporary lifeline amid blackouts and a deepening fuel crisis. But one shipment doesn’t fix a structural shortage—unless more tankers follow, the situation remains precarious.

Just looked through a notable academic conference catalogue and among its 89 pages the word "imperialism" appears exactly zero times. I can't help but think of that old joke about the two fish: "How’s the water?” “What the hell is water?” etc. etc.

This talk went extremely well. Once again I was reminded that the average academic either supports imperialism or is quietly critical of it but petrified to speak out publicly. It felt valuable to show that in fact one can make anti-imperialism the foundation of one's scholarship and pedagogy.

The video for this incredibly inspiring panel discussion is out! Highly recommend! Please pass it on. www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3-B...

The video for this incredibly inspiring panel discussion is out! Highly recommend! Please pass it on. www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3-B...

Essential listening

The latest @coldwarcinema.com podcast is fascinating listening to anyone interested in aspects of materiality and Cold War film history. @alicelovejoy.bsky.social provides upon layer of observations about everything from the extractive industries in the former Congo to evolution of fabric making.