大象传媒

The Nobel peace prize-winner Maria Ressa is a journalist who has spent decades speaking truth to power in the country of her birth, the Philippines. She looks back at her life, and her ongoing battle against disinformation and political lies in How To Stand Up To A Dictator. She tells Kirsty Wark that although she is hounded by the state and faces threats of imprisonment, she is determined to continue fighting for the truth.

Zsuzsanna Szel茅nyi was once one of the leading politicians in Hungary鈥檚 ruling party, Fidesz, but now sits in opposition. In Tainted Democracy she charts what she calls her country鈥檚 descent into autocracy. She explores how the populist Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n has consolidated his grip on power, reining in the media and making sweeping changes to legal and economic frameworks.

In his latest three part series for 大象传媒 television, History of Now, Simon Schama looks back at the dramatic history that has played out in the decades of his own life from 1945. He explores the vital role of artists, writers and musicians in fighting for democracy and equality post-war. The series reveals the extraordinary power of art to shape the world, and the immense personal cost of creating work that dares to take a stand.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Simon Schama in front of Picasso鈥檚 'Guernica'. From Simon Schama's 'History of Now', Episode 1, 大象传媒 2 (Credit: 大象传媒/Oxford Films/Eddie Knox)