Launching a Programme on Fascism

The Tromsø International Film Festival is dedicating a full programme to fascism during the January festival. Using the films as a point of departure, TIFF aims to offer audiences historical insight while inviting reflection on current global trends.

“There are several developments in the world today that point towards less democracy and more authoritarian forms of governance,” says Assistant Programme Director Henning Rosenlund.

“Fascism is the last major anti-democratic ideology we have seen in Western Europe, and it had fatal consequences. That’s why it’s important to understand how it actually manifested – and how certain mechanisms can be recognised today.”

He points particularly to developments in the United States and parts of Europe.

“To take the obvious example many are discussing: in the US, the sitting president does not respect the normal rules of power-sharing and explicitly expresses a desire to strengthen his own power. The media, universities and civil service are under pressure, and even the courts and Congress have been challenged on several occasions.”

A clear framework

The aim of the programme is twofold: to show what fascism actually looked like in the 1930s and 40s, and to highlight authoritarian tendencies that historically have been precursors to more totalitarian regimes.
“Ideally, we want audiences to understand more about how fascism unfolded in Europe, while also being able to draw comparisons with features we see today,” Rosenlund says.

He hopes audiences leave the cinema with both historical clarity and greater analytical curiosity.

“Many scholars are debating whether we are facing a new form of fascism. We’re not here to provide a definitive answer, but to create space for audiences to reflect for themselves.”

Wide scope

TIFF has curated a programme of films that illuminate the nature of fascism – from iconic propaganda archives to new fictional narratives about authoritarian power. Five of these titles are confirmed, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

• TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1935, Germany, Leni Riefenstahl): The famous – and infamous – propaganda film documenting the NSDAP party congress and idealising Hitler.
• A SPECIAL DAY (1977, Italy, Ettore Scola): An intimate chamber drama capturing the total conformity of Mussolini’s Italy in 1938.
• HANNAH ARENDT (2012, France/Luxembourg/Germany, Margarethe von Trotta): A biographical drama about Arendt’s coverage of the Eichmann trial and her analysis of totalitarian systems.
• THE WIZARD OF KREMLIN (2025, France, Olivier Assayas): A fictional account of Putin’s rise to power and the establishment of a vertical power structure gradually tightening its grip on Russian society.
• THE SECRET AGENT (2025, Brazil, Kleber Mendonça Filho): The story of researcher Armando, who tries to escape and resist Brazil’s increasingly authoritarian military dictatorship in the 1970s.