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Power Games

Age of the Image Series 1
Episode 2 of 4

James Fox explores how mass communication and new technology helped 20th-century image-makers transform society, from Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda films to the moon landings.

James Fox explores how mass communication and new technology helped 20th-century image-makers transform society, as films, photographs, TV, art and advertising all became weapons in the ideological battles of the age.

James tells the story of Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl, who each used cinema to pursue very different visions of power and freedom. We discover how Jewish comic book artists in New York created superheroes as their act of resistance to the Nazi threat. And we find out why a Muhammad Ali magazine cover is one of the most powerful political images of the last century.

In the UK he reveals how Picture Post photographers and directors such as Ken Loach empowered the lives of ordinary people through a new style of film-making and reportage. Travelling from the Normandy beaches where Robert Capa took his famous D-Day photographs to the Nasa control room that first witnessed live images from the moon landings, it’s an exhilarating look at how image-makers discovered the power to influence and change our lives.

59 minutes

Last on

Wed 29 Jun 2022 20:00
BBC Four

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A New RealitySeries 1

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Seductive DreamsSeries 1

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:02

    The Cinematic Orchestra

    Man With The Movie Camera

  • 00:06

    Goldfrapp

    Ooh La La

  • 00:08

    Lesley Gore

    You Don't Own Me

  • 00:29

    Four Tet

    You Are Loved

  • 00:31

    Dub Pistols

    You'll Never Find (feat. Rodney P)

  • 00:40

    Kasabian

    Club Foot

  • 00:49

    Gil Scott‐Heron

    Whitey On The Moon (Live)

  • 00:49

    Curtis Mayfield

    Pusherman

Credits

Presenter James Fox
Executive Producer Richard Bright
Director Alexander Leith

Broadcasts

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