Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies (2019)

• 69%
• 2019
• Documentary
• Larry Weinstein
• Ai Weiwei
• Shepard Fairey
• Kent Monkman

In a world where access to media is unprecedented, the global conversation around the propagation of information, "alternative facts" and "fake news" has never been more heated. As media outlets become increasingly polarized, and as social media rules information feeds, where does propaganda come into play? How is it influencing changes in the world order? Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies demystifies the predominant means and methods of propagandist persuasion that have been employed by those seeking power. It explores and analyzes the present day landscape and contextualizes it by looking back at key epochs of history when propaganda defined nations and kept populations in check. From ancient cave drawings, to the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, to the unbridled stabs of Twitter, every form of media has been exploited in order to sway, awe and intimidate. The intellect is relegated to a distant second place to raw emotion that is fueled by sinister threats and unrealistic promises. The lie overrules the truth and becomes the new reality-alternative facts are dispensed in rants and raves. Propaganda has been at times relatively innocuous, but at others powerful and deadly, especially in the hands of the most infamously demonic demagogues through the ages.