De Propagandist
Documentary about filmmaker Jan Teunissen (1898-1975), leader of the NSB Film Service in World War II. A story about a wounded ego, opportunism and manipulation.
Drawing on previously unpublished interviews, journals, family footage and propaganda films, De Propagandist tracks the rise and fall of Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen.
Coming from a very wealthy background meant Teunissen was able to pursue his aspirations as a filmmaker early in life. During the Second World War he became the most powerful man in the Dutch film industry. As head of the Film Department of the SS and the Dutch Nazi party (the NSB), he became known as ‘the film czar’ and ‘the Dutch Leni Riefenstahl.’ After the war, Teunissen was prosecuted and punished. He nevertheless continued to boast about his shrewdness and his connections with the higher-ups of the Nazi regime.
A portrait gradually emerges of a man and his motivations. At the same time, this documentary about unbridled ambition and the manipulative power of film questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda. It reveals how propagandists go about their work – how they disseminate images, stories, disinformation and ideology.
De Propagandist won the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA).