Forbidden Films

The Hidden Legacy of Nazi Film

1,200 feature films were made in Germany's Third Reich. According to experts, some 100 of these were blatant Nazi propaganda. Nearly seventy years after the end of the Nazi regime, more than 40 of these films remain under lock and key.

Director Felix Moeller interviews German film historians, archivists and film-goers in an investigation of the power and potential danger of cinema when used for ideological purposes. Utilizing clips from the films and recorded discussions from public screenings (permitted in Germany in educational contexts) in Munich, Berlin, Paris and Jerusalem, Moeller shows how contentious these 70-year-old films remain, and how propaganda can retain its punch when presented to audiences susceptible to manipulation.

"This is a documentary fascinated with and fearful of cinema's potency, but it's also devoted to the idea of open discourse, a stance that underlines the urgency of thinking about film critically." - Nicolas Rapold, The New York Times