Plenty of films are set in the past, either adapted from texts from the period or written by authors looking back on history (and likely bringing their own biases to it). Yet only a select few of such works manage to so convincingly convey a tactile sense of the time that they approach the immersive. And which genuine traces of the present captured by filmmakers—be it locations, attitudes, or small details like trash in the street—will serve as accurate snapshots for the future? Digital Editor Violet Lucca spoke with Nick Pinkerton, regular FILM COMMENT contributor, and Eric Hynes, FC columnist and associate curator at the Museum of the Moving Image, to discuss how history is made (or unmade) on film.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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