From The Wizard of Oz to Madame Mao, Kirsty Sinclair Dootson’s essay explores the politics of making films in colour - specifically Technicolor - a process synonymous with American cinema that was the envy of political powers across Russia, Germany and China. The story takes us from Hollywood to Auschwitz to Instagram.

Dr Kirsty Sinclair Dootson is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the BBC to put academic research on radio. She is a lecturer in Film and Media at University College London, and author of a book The Rainbow’s Gravity.

Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed