Film Series 2026: The Moral Responsibility of the Artist in the Face of Political Power
Tue, Feb 17
|Zoetis
What happens to artists under pressure? This film series explores how artists confront truth, ambition, and ethical responsibility in the shadow of political power.
Time & Location
Feb 17, 2026, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM CST
Zoetis, 2000 Rockford Rd, Charles City, IA 50616, USA
About the event
The Moral Responsibility of the Artist in the Face of Political Power
This film series explores how cinema interrogates the ethical obligations of artists operating under intense political pressure. Across different historical and cultural contexts, these films examine struggles over truth that take multiple forms: the aestheticization of power, the seductions of professional success, the demand for ideological conformity, and the pursuit of justice after repression. Together, the series asks a central question: What is the moral responsibility of the artist in the face of political power—whether that power is explicit, institutional, or sustained by threats to one’s livelihood and freedom of conscience?
See film details below. All showings start at 6pm in the Zoetis Auditorium.
Tickets are $10/show, or $36 for the full series.
Members get an additional 10% discount.
📅 February 3, 2026
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
The artist who actively collaborates and denies responsibility
1 hour 35 minutes
Directed by Ray Müller, 1993, Germany
A penetrating documentary portrait of the filmmaker who crafted Nazi propaganda and spent decades defending her artistic legacy. A foundational case study in the entanglement of aesthetics and state power. The film series will showcase Part 1 of this important film.
📅 February 10, 2026
Mephisto
The artist who rationalizes collaboration
2 hours 24 minutes
Directed by István Szabó, 1981, Hungary
Mephisto traces the rise of a celebrated stage actor in Nazi Germany who insists that art exists above politics. As his career advances, professional success becomes inseparable from accommodation to state power. The film exposes how ambition, denial, and gradual compromise draw the artist into moral complicity.
📅 February 17, 2026
Trumbo
The artist who resists and reclaims the truth
2 hours 4 minutes
Directed by Jay Roach, 2015, U.S.
This film depicts the real-life struggle of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo during the Hollywood Blacklist era. It examines the cost of maintaining political principles when faced with institutional exclusion and the "moral responsibility" to resist ideological purges.
📅 February 24, 2026
Death and the Maiden
The artist who bears witness and demands a moral reckoning
1 hour 43 minutes
Directed by Roman Polanski, 1994, Chile/Argentina/U.S.
In the aftermath of dictatorship, a former political prisoner confronts the man she believes tortured her. This intense psychological drama probes the ethics of testimony, memory, and justice when truth itself has been violated.
Arrival & Parking
Zoetis
2000 Rockford Road
Charles City, IA 50616
Please enter through the Gate #1 driveway. At the security gate, press the intercom button and let them know why you’re visiting. After you’re granted access, drive straight into the main parking area and enter through the front doors.
Tickets
Single - General Admission
Valid for admission to one screening in the film series.
$10.00
Film Series Pass
Includes admission to all four screenings in the film series.
$36.00
Total
$0.00
CHARLES CITY ARTS CENTER