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...

This is Third Cinema.

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

American liberals scratching their heads: "What's imperialist?"

Really enjoyed this discussion with @davidharvey.org on the @cosmonautmag.bsky.social podcast. One fact about Harvey that I didn't know is that he didn't even start reading Marx until he was 35 yrs old. Never think you're too old to start rewiring your brain! cosmopod.libsyn.com/the-marxist-...

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.

Presenting a talk this weekend called "Radical Education and Revolutionary Praxis through Cinema" with Ankita Rathour (my wife) at the 2026 South Asian Literary Association Conference. Excited!

🇨🇺 The Granma 2.0 flotilla has reached Cuba carrying 30 tons of humanitarian aid.

Thank you to @jasonachristian.bsky.social and @ptklein.com @coldwarcinema.com for a wonderful conversation!

This was a really great interview, and I learned so much. I think listeners will get a lot out of this conversation and Alice Lovejoy's book that prompted it. Check it out! coldwarcinema.com/bonus-interv...

New episode is live! We invited the film historian Alice Lovejoy (@alicelovejoy.bsky.social) to discuss her new book, Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War, and the political economy of film production and its connection to imperialism. coldwarcinema.com/bonus-interv...

must read

It's Walter Rodney's birthday, and I'm taking this opportunity to recommend his groundbreaking book HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA. It is truly a foundation text for understanding the role of imperialism in decimating the Global South while enriching Europe and the US.

I run a radical “microcinema” in Atlanta called Resistance Cinema ATL and tonight we hosted a screening of this brilliant 2017 documentary. The film is innovative in its structure, and such a heartfelt and honest look at an overlooked revolutionary movement in the Philippines. 1/

EMILE DE ANTONIO'S COLD WAR COUNTERCULTURE 📽️ Coming to the Criterion Channel in April. bit.ly/4sT3sNR

🗣️On Friday, March 20, at 7–9PM EST, four women from Cuba, Venezuela and the US will discuss the role of women, including themselves, in revolutionary struggles against US imperialism. This is a hybrid event, online and in-person in Atlanta. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

It was an honor to host a screening of the Bollywood film Dhadak 2 the other night. The director, Shazia Iqbal, and the screenwriter, Rahul Badwelkar, were there and we had a lively post-screening discussion about censorship in the industry and caste discrimination in India, a big theme in the film.

I started a newsletter called Notes on Radical Cinema and wrote a brief introduction. I plan to write short, irregular dispatches on what I'm viewing and reading. I'd love some subscribers, and please spread the word! notesonradicalcinema.substack.com?r=47j0o&utm_...

Got the official acceptance letter today, and I'm still reeling from this exciting news. If anyone on this app studies Third Cinema, or radical cinema generally, please feel free to connect with me.

This is correct.

Anti-imperialism should be the foundation of your politics. If it isn't, you need to study more.

I really enjoyed this.

New issue of Current Affairs is out. I have a piece (ph 32) about the impotent frustration of trying to communicate with each other and rally action during multiple emergencies with no functioning mainstream news.

Despite having a full-time job that I like and want to keep, and despite the fact that I'm not very young, I took a chance and applied for a PhD program in film studies, and, well, they accepted me! It feels like a bad time to post personal accomplishments, but I wanted to share.

Imperialism shapes the world economically, militarily, and even culturally, and the United States for nearly a century is the primary imperialist force. Take a look at where its bases are and why. This is the key to understanding global matters, so it is worth making the effort to study it.

Some favorite February first watches: The Nail in the Boot (1931) Death Laid an Egg (1968) Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Todo Modo (1976) Death of a Cyclist (1955) Insiang (1976) Earth’s Greatest Enemy (2025)

The project I run, Resistance Cinema, held an excellent screening tonight in Atlanta of Abby Martin's new documentary EARTH'S GREATEST ENEMY, which is about the environmental impact of the US military. Great post-screening discussion with the director via Zoom as well. This film is essential. ✊

We had a deal with Iran to ensure limits on its nuclear capacities. Trump ended that deal. Now he says that sending our young people off to fight and potentially lose their lives for this country is just a ‘cost of war.’ This is the cost of his broken promises. No war with Iran.

fascism is colonialism that has come home

BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.

Obama bombed 7 different countries in one year. Biden facilitated a genocide in Gaza. Imperialism is a bipartisan endeavor and an outgrowth of capitalism. If this is a surprise, I suggest studying the Cold War.

These imperialist scum are finally getting what the've wanted all along: another regime change in Iran, which is one of the only checks on Israeli aggression in the region. So sick of this shit.

Al Jazeera’s reporting at least 53 students have been killed.