Film screening and discussion: Theaters of War

This workshop features a film screening of Roger Stahl’s 2022 documentary Theaters of War. Based on thousands of pages of documents acquired through Freedom of Information Act requests and from various archival sites, the documentary examines the influence of the Pentagon and CIA in shaping Hollywood and TV scripts. Engaging an array of researchers and industry insiders, the film provides intriguingly blunt insights into the business of producing military entertainment – incl. blockbuster films such as Top Gun: Maverick or Transformers – and invites us to reflect on the way in which war and conflict are framed in popular culture.