Show Notes
Is cinema a vehicle of truth or does it promote false beliefs?
Associate Professor of Film Studies Bruce Isaacs doesn’t believe in historical truth in the film image.
“I don't think cinema looks for that. What it seeks to show is a kind of aesthetic truth. Films straddle this very interesting tension between being truthful to history and yet in some way intensifying that experience.”
Hollywood has a long and complicated relationship with trust, ideology, and reality. A relationship that has only intensified as the Trump administration polarises America and the world.
Professor Isaacs explores whether film is corrosive of trust, why movies are such fertile ground for conspiracies, and the political anxieties driving recent Hollywood films like Civil War, Eddington, and One Battle After Another.
Hear more from Professor Isaacs on his podcast Film Versus Film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Time for Trust
The 24-hour news cycle and the endless scroll of social media means a single controversial headline can shatter your organisation’s credibility in seconds.
AI is unavoidable in 2026, but higher education is caught between plummeting public trust and fear of disruption. In institutions where original thought is rewarded, how do you embrace an AI driven world?
How well do you remember your uni days? Chances are, whatever picture that came to mind - the lecture theatres, campus life, the idea of a place built to protect independent thought - is a few steps removed from the more complicated reality.
The UK has followed Australia’s lead by banning social media for under-16s. In a parting move made by the Starmer government, it’s left public opinion divided.
Communication is a two-way street. Or at least, it’s meant to be. So why don’t organisations ever seem to really listen to us?