Dutch Nazi propagandist Jan Teunissen was once one of the most powerful—and now largely forgotten—figures in Dutch cinema. Rising to prominence during World War II, he seized the opportunity to shape ideology through film, aligning himself with the Nazi regime to fulfil his artistic ambitions. In De Propagandist (2025), director Luuk Bouwman unearths Teunissen’s unsettling legacy, tracing his trajectory from outcast filmmaker to the chief propagandist of the NSB and Nederlands SS. In conversation with host Kiriko Mechanicus, Bouwman examines cinema’s complicity in propaganda, the moral compromises Teunissen made in pursuit of his craft, and how the language of wartime propaganda lives on in modern advertising.

Films mentioned

• De Propagandist (Luuk Bouwman, 2025)
• Allen tegen allen (Luuk Bouwman, 2019)
• Gerlach (Luuk Bouwman & Aliona van der Horst, 2023)

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