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As Depicted on Film
Pod Academy
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An international collaborative podcast exploring film depictions of history, culture, politics, and science
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Good Archeology on Film
Apr 25 2022
58 mins
Good Archeology on Film
When cultures dig in their own ground to learn more about their forebearers, archeology is a tool that promotes a sense of personal and social continuation. Let's talk Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb (2020) and The Dig (2021).
Apr 25 2022
58 mins
Evil Cursed Archeology on Film
So many of the films that depict western archeologists digging up ancient artifacts have those artifacts produce evil curses in revenge for the excavations. Let's explore that theme with Indiana Jones (1981), The Mummy (1999) and Night At The Museum (2006).
Apr 11 2022
1 hr 2 mins
Succession (HBO): Monstrous Nobility
HBO's Succession is one of the best shows of the past few years. It combines dark comedy, uninhibited satire and deep psychological drama. Linguist Mallory Aler joins Gil to discuss.
Mar 28 2022
53 mins
Ukraine on Film
For this episode, Gil and Rutger watched three Ukrainian movies made for an U?krainian audience, about the ongoing conflict with Russia: the Netflix documentary of the civil protests of 2013-2014 called Winter on Fire (2015), the mainstream action war movie Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die (2015) and the dark satirical drama-comedy Donbass (2018).
Mar 21 2022
57 mins
NAME CHANGE: From Pod Academy to As Depicted on Film
We're changing the name of our podcast to reflect the most integral part of the format: As Depicted on Film. In each episode, we pick 3+ films around a certain topic and breakdown the different depictions. Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/adof
Mar 14 2022
10 mins
Christmas Classic: Jesus on Film
Like every Christmas, this is the time of year we post our recurring Jesus in movies episode, with Monty Python's The Life of Brian (1979), Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004), and Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Enjoy!
Dec 20 2021
1 hr 11 mins
The Bosnian War on Film
The Bosnian war of 1992-1995 was the most brutal war in Europe since WWII. The conflict had three parties vying for control of a complex patchwork of areas and the populations within them, culminating in genocide. In this episode, Rutger explores how this war was depicted on film: in The Peacemaker (1997), Behind Enemy Lines (2001) and No Man's Land (2001).
Dec 6 2021
1 hr 9 mins
Blues Music on Film
American blues music has created the genres that have been dominating the music world for the past 70 years. Today we'll go on a trip that covers the evolution of that music, from its roots (Brother Where Art Thou?, 2001), to its soul (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 2020), its theft (Cadillac Records, 2008), its rise (Ray, 2004) and its acceptance into the mainstream (The Blues Brothers, 1980). Together with Gil are two longtime members of the show, musician Bridget Hall and avid blues fan Shay Golan.
Nov 29 2021
1 hr 12 mins
The Last Duel: Historical Review
The Last Duel (2021, now in theatres) more or less accurately depicts a trial by combat over a rape accusation in France in the year 1386. In this episode, Mallory and Rutger discuss the film and the historical context from the perspective of the three protagonists.
Nov 15 2021
1 hr
Vikings on Film
The Vikings are the last hurrah of paganism in Europe. In the English perspective, the Viking age consists of the period between their first raid on English shores in 793 and concludes with the other battle of 1066, not the one of Hastings, but of Stamford Bridge. Yet this is only one of several possible bookends. The Christianisation of the Danish kings is sometimes seen as another. Be that as it may, the Viking age is curious because they came, they saw, they conquered... and then they just kinda stopped coming, because both they and their enemies had evolved into something else. But what was Vikingness like at peak performance? What made them tick? And why did that end? That's today's episode.
Nov 8 2021
53 mins
Dune Takes Sci-Fi Filmmaking to New Heights
The new Dune by Dennis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet, is a sci-fi sensation that charts a new course for the CGI-heavy genre.
Nov 1 2021
37 mins
Beowulf on Film
Beowulf is an epic poem from 6th c. southern Scandinavia, recorded in Anglo-Saxon a few centuries later. The poem recalls a time when brutal warriors in small kingdoms dominated the North Sea coasts as the transition from paganism to Christianity was unfolding. In this episode, Gil and Rutger review three films based on the plot of the poem: Beowulf (2007), Beowulf & Grendel (2005), and Outlander (2008).
Oct 25 2021
58 mins
Techno on Film
Electronic dance music took Europe by storm in the years following 1989. The music became the soundtrack across the unifying continent for the post-Cold War euphoria of the decade when the world went online. In this episode, Rutger reviews five films that depict events from the "second Summer of Love" in Manchester in the late eighties to the early noughties in Berlin: 24 Hour Party People (2002), Trainspotting (1996), Wasted (1996), It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004) and Berlin Calling (2008). For this episode, there exists a 45-minute mix of some of the songs featured in the films and discussed in the review. This can be found at https://www.ourpodacademy.com/post/techno-on-film
Oct 18 2021
1 hr 4 mins
Getting Your Ex Back Across Genre Films
It is somewhat perplexing how the basic premise of so many different films across genres have one recurring theme when it comes to men wanting to get back with their exes: male performance, female castration, male domination, female submission. Our films for this episode are: Outbreak (1994), Die Hard (1988), 2012 (2009), War of the Worlds (2005), Crazy Stupid Love (2011), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
Oct 11 2021
1 hr 17 mins
Noah on Film
The story of the flood and Noah's ark has been a staple of human storytelling for 2500 years, with the latest version being the avant-garde Darren Aronofsky 2014 Noah film, with its distinct gravitas, starring Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connely, Emma Watson, Ron Winstone, and Anthony Hopkins. How is this 21st-century version of this tale different and what does it tell us about the evolution of storytelling? What makes this biblical adventure still relevant today? A collaboration with Garry Stevens from History in the Bible Podcast https://www.historyinthebible.com/
Oct 4 2021
1 hr 9 mins
Love and Time Travel on Film
Time travel is an awesome power that, apparently, is wielded by manchildren in order to groom and gaslight women. Gil and Rutger review the highly similar films, The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) and About Time (2013). As a palate cleanser, the shockingly oedipal Back To The Future (1985).
Sep 27 2021
43 mins
Back to the Future Trilogy
In our series on time travel, we treat ourselves to one of the greatest film franchises of all time: Back to the Future. Gil and Rutger explore the evolution of our morals from the depicted 1950s (and 1880s and 2010s) through the time the films were made, and on to our present day. Are time machines just tools for manipulating the world into getting what you want - especially from women - or can we aim higher?
Sep 20 2021
54 mins
South African Crime Films
How do South African Films portray post-Apartheid crime? Why is there crime? Who are the criminals? What is their life like? Is race more important than class? Gil has South African-raised Jessina Marenga again to look at how South Africans are telling their own stories about crime.
Sep 13 2021
1 hr 30 mins
Re-Posting: The Evolution of Wall Street on Film
Wall Street and its flaws are a common theme in movies, which emphasize the excesses, the risk-taking, and the societal fallout. But once upon a time, banking and finance were boring, steady occupations - and even before that, they were the domain of Florentine family businesses and Venetian Jews. What changed, and why? Gil and Rutger discuss Hollywood portrays the world of finance capitalism over 50 years: Merry Poppins (1964), Wall Street (1980), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and The Big Short (2015)
Sep 6 2021
55 mins
Promising Young Woman & Feminist Film Continuum
The 2020 thriller dark comedy Promising Young Woman breaks new ground on the feminist film continuum, parodying former female revenge movies, narratives about rape as an awesome origin story, and eviscerates the trope of the "nice guy". Lireza Elezaj joins Gil to discuss.
Aug 30 2021
54 mins
