I’ll admit to being skeptical about how fresh a WWII documentary could be. Even with George Stroumboulopoulos as the narrator, HD location shoots, and and new historical footage from Russia and Japan.

I’m happy to say I was wrong to doubt. The CBC/Radio Canada coproduction Love, Hate & Propaganda hits all the right marks and lives up to the promise of a refreshed focus on a topic that has already been the subject of countless documentaries.

The writing and production truly shine. Weaving in first person stories from all sides of the war–and most interestingly from the citizens exposed to the fighting–propaganda, and aftermath of the war.

The particular episode I previewed, Selling War, had a brilliantly conceived segment demonstrating how Nazi propagandists used the Warsaw Ghetto as a “Hollywood back lot”. While the copy I was sent was a “screener” (and a rough cut at that), even without the slick animation Strombo’s careful narration was a solid backbone for the images, clever edits, and elegant first person sequences.

Fascinating exploration of the war. I’d suggest it will become regular viewing in high school history classes over the next few years.

Airing each Thursday until April 8th on CBC Television, 9pm in most areas.