In this bonus episode of Cold War Cinema, Jason Christian is joined by the independent filmmakers Eric Marsh and Christopher Jason Bell, to discuss the films and legacy of the British filmmaker and media theorist Peter Watkins, who died on October 30, 2025, one day after his nintieth birthday. Watkins stands apart in film history for his bold cinematic vision, his innovations of the pseudo-documentary, and for his unflinching cinematic attacks on the mass media and authoritarian states. For these reasons and others, he has never been given his due in the academy or in popular culture. We discuss why this radical filmmaker is so important to us personally, and why his legacy should—and probably will—continue to grow.
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We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode:
Eric recommends the film Bisbee '17 (2018, Robert Greene).
Christopher recommends the film Revolution Selfie (2017, Steven de Castro).
Jason recommends the book Future Revolutions: New Perspectives on Peter Watkins (2018, various authors).
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Find Eric Marsh's films here.
Find Christopher Jason Bell's work here.
Find our previous interview with Christopher Jason Bell here.
Jason's essay on Punishment Park (1971) is found here. And his short piece on Privilege (1967) is here. (Scroll down.)
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To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com, or find us online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema.
And for more from your hosts:
Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic.
Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas.
Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com
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Logo by Jason Christian
Theme music by DYAD (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt).
Happy listening!
