Hollywood Blacklist Then and Now with Gillian Helfield

This three-part series explores the ongoing Hollywood boycott of Israeli film institutions, which has been compared to the Hollywood Blacklist of the McCarthy era in the late 1940s and 1950s, an earlier period of extreme polarization in America during which political ideology and propaganda were used to target and marginalize Jewish voices in the entertainment industry.

The Hollywood Blacklist explores the Hollywood Blacklist during the early Cold War, a period of intense political polarization when HUAC targeted alleged communist influence in the entertainment industry. Many creatives, disproportionately Jewish, were denounced and barred from work, often destroying their careers and personal lives. The discussion also examines some iconic films from this era, which featured characters and narratives that allegorically address the social tensions, fears, and cultural climate of this turbulent moment in American history.

In the series:
Feb. 4: The Hollywood Blacklist
Mar. 11: The Hollywood Boycott
Apr. 15: Right to Left and Back Again