On Wednesday, August 3, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation hosted a virtual event on communism and film.
Titus Techera and Flagg Taylor started a series of conversations on cinema and totalitarianism in 2017. Through discussions of films from Russia, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and the United States, Techera and Taylor aim to provide critical resources for educators and for the public about a much-neglected topic, communist tyranny, and to make the case that artists are as important as public educators.
Armando Iannucci’s film, The Death of Stalin (2017), and Andrei Konchalovsky’s film, The Inner Circle (1991), will be discussed in the upcoming webinar. The Death of Stalin is a satirical comedy about the struggle for power among Soviet leaders following Stalin’s death. The Inner Circle follows the lives of a high-ranking KGB officer, his wife, and an orphan, who are collateral in the political strife of communist Russia. Each film presents Soviet Communism differently, whether satirically or dramatically, but both showcase the toll that the regime took on the people both in power and otherwise.
As current events demonstrate, such as Putin’s war in Ukraine, communism and tyranny still plague countries around the world. The effects of totalitarianism, including censorship of art and media, remain powerful enough that a deep understanding and continued study of its history is necessary.
About the Speakers
Titus Techera is the executive director of the American Cinema Foundation & host of the ACF movie podcast, film critic for Law & Liberty & the Acton Powerblog, contributor to Modern Age, culture columnist for the European Conservative & for Return.
Dr. F. Flagg Taylor IV serves on the Academic Council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and is an Associate Professor of government at Skidmore College. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in political science from Fordham University and a B.A. from Kenyon College. Taylor’s specialty is in the history of political thought and American government, especially the question of executive power. He is the co-author of The Contested Removal Power, 1789-2010, author of numerous articles, and editor of The Great Lie: Classic and Recent Appraisals of Ideology and Totalitarianism and The Long Night of the Watchman: Essays by Václav Benda, 1977-1989.
