History increasingly plays a crucial role in the major debates of our time – from post-colonialism, claims to representation and identity politics, to the resurgence of fascism, to Putin’s historical justifications for his invasion of Ukraine. Everywhere the past casts its shadow over the present; everywhere it is renegotiated; everywhere it is used as an argument that some are right and others are wrong. We have put together a programme of six powerful films, each in its own way shining a light on history as a battleground, as a weapon and as outright explosive material.