The Future of History
A couple of weeks ago I was in Rome for MIA, the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivi - the Italian content market combining movies, drama series and documentaries. I produced and moderated a panel about history programmes. I wanted to do the panel is because of how vital it is to bring stories from the past for audiences to recognise and learn from. The panel happened on a date which will go down in history, October 7th, the anniversary of an event which has caused so much death and destruction,am first on that day in Israel and then for the past two years in Palestine. As many countries try to rewrite the historical record and use history as propaganda, getting the facts to people through television is more important than ever. But informative and factual documentaries are under threat around the world. To pick one country, the USA, whose democracy is under sustained attack from its government, I was dismayed to learn recently that PBS' American Experience strand announced it would be
22 October 2025