Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | Film as Propaganda

Visual media have been exploited to serve genocide and crimes against humanity. They have perpetuated racial and ethnic hatreds, targeted political opponents, aggrandized the national image of regimes, and portrayed the nation as a victim of evil, outside forces. The Nazis were the penultimate masters in this regard—usurping the German film industry, creating a ministry to assure that films served the Reich, and recruiting film directors to enhance Hitler's power and present frightening images of Germany's perceived enemies. Similarly, other nations have employed visual media to support the political values of genocidal and criminal regimes. They also routinely use censorship to guarantee the absence of countervailing visual images.

Nazi control of the German film industry is the most extreme example of the use of film in the service of a fascist national program. Prior to Hitler's rise to power, Germany had a lively,...