Abstract
With the prominence of the U.S. president and the presidency, the executive office and its occupant have naturally found their way into numerous film expressions. Since 1903, presidents have been featured in no less than 400 commercial films. Ranging from respectful, biographical presentations to comic caricatures, the ways in which presidents are depicted on film reflects a great deal about contemporary perception of the office. Our research centers on the relationship between American Politics and Hollywood cinema, especially the depiction of real and imaginary American Presidents in films. We intended to base our thesis around a structure of case studies looking at presentations of particular Presidents. Ronald Reagan is certainly the best example (!) of the link between film and politics. Nonetheless, intriguingly his Presidency in the 1980's marks a lull in the genre of the American political films, but more precisely, behind the representation of American Presidents on the screen, there is a matter that concerns all of us. In the framework of this course, we will discuss the subtle censorship and propaganda in these American films.
