Dystopia Now! In ‘Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5,' Director Raoul Peck Shows How ‘1984' Author Foresaw Today's Authoritarian Drift — Cannes

'Special military operation.' 'Department of Government Efficiency.' 'Enhanced interrogation techniques.' 'Alternative facts.'
We live in a time when governments use lexical distortions to manipulate public opinion – the very thing author George Orwell captured so cogently in his dystopian novel 1984, where the futuristic regime adopts 'Newspeak' and other authoritarian techniques to stamp out independent critical thinking.
More from Deadline
Raoul Peck's 'Ernest Cole' Shares Cannes' L'Oeil D'or Prize For Best Documentary With 'The Brink Of Dreams'
Raoul Peck Directing Documentary 'The Hands That Held The Knives' On Assassination Of Haitian President Jovenel Moise
Nu Boyana Exec Launches Next Gen Company Hollywood Influence Studios With Stratosphere-Shot Debut 'Above The End'
The time is ripe then to reexamine a writer who, though he died 75 years ago, foresaw how leaders of today would gaslight their own people to impose their will and squash dissent. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck takes on that task in his new documentary Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, premiering on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival.
'A man that died in January 1950, to be that accurate about what is happening today — you better take a second look and try to learn even more from him,' Peck tells Deadline. For his examination of Orwell and his thought, the director drew upon the writer's personal archives.
'The estate allowed me to have access to everything — to published, unpublished [work], private letters, unpublished manuscripts. And that's something, especially in today's world where buying a chapter of a book costs you a fortune,' Peck says. 'It was a gift to be able to have access to everything. It was the same gift I had with James Baldwin' (focus of Peck's acclaimed film I Am Not Your Negro).
Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 traces the writer's effort to complete 1984 in the late 1940s as tuberculosis took the last vestiges of his health. He was hospitalized regularly as he worked on the manuscript on the Scottish island of Jura in the Inner Hebrides. The film also dials back to experiences much earlier in Orwell's life that formed his humanistic worldview. In private writings – voiced by actor Damian Lewis – Orwell describes growing up with the ideology common to a Briton of his background (he described himself as 'lower upper-middle class'). He was educated at Eton but instead of following the common path of his classmates to Oxford or Cambridge, he joined the British Imperial Service, working as a colonial police officer in Burma (present-day Myanmar).
'The key to who he became was in Burma. He realized he was there as an imperialist,' Peck observes. 'He was there as a European and doing the worst things a human being can do to normal people — not to combatants, not to communists — to normal people, 'Coolies,' farmers. And he did not like himself. He did not like what he was doing, and he was doing it for the Empire. That was the big break. And he never was able to reconcile that. And he knew he had to keep his critical mind always, no matter who's the boss, no matter who is the king, no matter who's the president, he needs to keep his critical mind.'
He threw his lot in with working people, chronicling life on the lower economic rungs in Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) and The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). He fought fascism in Spain in the 1930s, documenting his experience in Homage to Catalonia (1938).
'The thing that made him interesting to me beside his books, besides his ideas, was the fact that he lived through those things. He wrote from his experience, his own personal experience, not from any intellectual awareness of anything. Not that I'm against that, but there is a sort of credibility that can only be gained from going through those things yourself,' the filmmaker says. 'And this is something he did very frontally, very decisively, and trying to live among the poor, among the disinherited, because that was important to him to feel before he writes, to understand before he can write and to verify what his instinct was. And by the way, he didn't do it from a superior point of view, but he criticized himself as well. He put himself under his own analysis, and he did that very early on.'
Orwell described himself as a democratic socialist, but he abhorred the sort of mind control exerted by ostensibly socialist or communist regimes like the USSR and its satellites. Animal Farm, published in 1945 as the Soviet Union was clamping its pincers on Eastern Europe, and 1948 – published at a time when Stalin had drawn the Iron Curtain between East and West – illustrate the moral depravity of the powerful who exert dominance over the powerless. But, as Peck believes, Orwell has wrongly been interpreted as relevant only to an earlier time of Stalinist totalitarianism.
Forcing people to accept that 2 + 2 + 5 (as happens in 1984) – how different is being forcefed the lies of Putin that he unleashed hell on Ukrainian civilians to 'denazify' the country? How different is it from Pres. Trump attempting to rewrite reality by describing the January 6 attack on the U.S. capital as 'a day of love'? Orwell saw, as shown in Peck's documentary, that totalitarian regimes engage in 'continuous alteration of the past.'
'Orwell has been put in a little box as an anti-Stalinist or an anti-Soviet, anti-authoritarian regime,' Peck comments. 'But you hear what he says in the film, authoritarians don't all only happen in faraway countries. It can happen as well in the U.K., in the United States and elsewhere. So, the scope [of the film] was from the get-go very wide. For me, it was not just an anti-Trump or anti-whatever agenda.'
Peck was born in Haiti but as a child he and his family fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to escape the dictatorial regime of François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, an authoritarian who enjoyed the support of many successive American governments. That high level hypocrisy – America, the shining beacon of liberty, propping up a dictator – made Peck as acutely sensitive to the abuse of political language as Orwell.
'When Kennedy or Nixon or Johnson, were talking about Haiti, supporting a dictatorship, and the word democracy was in every speech, how could I reconcile that?' he questions. 'You are supporting a guy who has killed thousands and thousands of people, who is keeping his people poor, who is corrupt, where there is torture. So how do you reconcile that? Very early on, I was always suspect of certain words that people were using.'
Ultimately, what Orwell was about is asserting the dignity of individuals, especially the downtrodden, against forces of exploitation, be they economic and/or political. He's as relevant to our times as he was to the mid-20th century.
'When you encounter a thinker like Orwell, and you feel, wow, he gets it. He gets what the 'other' is, he has empathy,' Peck says. 'He looks at everybody as a human being, whether you are poor, rich or Burmese or British or a worker in a kitchen in Paris, he sees you first as a human being. And that's very rare. That's very rare.'
Best of Deadline
2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Where To Watch All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies: Streamers With Multiple Films In The Franchise
Everything We Know About 'My Life With The Walter Boys' Season 2 So Far

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

3 hours ago

• Yahoo

Cardi B Is Feisty and Ready for Summer on ‘Outside'

Cardi B wants to shake it all summer! On Friday, the rap star released 'Outside,' her first solo single of the year, which she says channels a feistier version of herself, who was a tad angrier than she is today. 'If y'all wouldn't have asked for it, I wouldn't have put it out. I made this song a few months ago when I was very, very angry,' Cardi said in an Instagram Story. 'I had to change some bars because I was angry, honey.' More from Rolling Stone Xavi Questions If He's Really the Bad Guy on New Single 'El Malo' Kesha Gets Wild and NSFW in Outrageous 'Boy Crazy' Video Remy Bond Channels the 'Diamond Sadness' of the Seventies in 'Moviestar' Video On the song, Cardi sings about hooking up with some hotties including a basketball player: 'I'm so small and tiny, he so big and tall/Might let him dunk this pussy like he dunk the ball,' she raps in one part. Cardi debuted the song earlier this week at Spotify's Cannes Beach event. On her IG, the rapper thanked her fans for their support, adding that she was 'very surprised and shocked' by how much love 'Outside' was getting after she debuted it live. 'We outside all summer. It doesn't matter if you're fucking pregnant,' Cardi joked. Earlier this year, Cardi joined Pardison Fontaine on 'Toot It Up' in February, and she joined DJ Khaled, Desi Trill, Natania, and Subhi on 'Higher Love' from the Smurfs soundtrack. Cardi opened up in an Instagram Live in May that she was delaying her album as she secures her features. 'I really need these fucking features,' Cardi said at the time. 'I'm not really trying to press or go crazy on these artists because I love them down. But it's like come on now, I need that. I need that right now. Y'all don't want to miss this opportunity.' Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked

Yahoo

4 hours ago

• Yahoo

DDB Worldwide Named Cannes Lions 2025 Network of the Year for the Second Time in Two Years

Omnicom Network Achieves Record Number of Wins in 76-Year History Under Recently Appointed Global Leadership CANNES, France, June 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- DDB Worldwide, part of Omnicom, has once again claimed the prestigious title of Network of the Year at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This marks the second time the network has secured the honor, following its historic first win in 2023. In a record-breaking year, DDB surpassed its 2023 award tally with a total of 112 Lions, further cementing its place at the forefront of the global creative industry. DDB's continued rise comes just one year into the leadership of Global CEO Alex Lubar and President & Global Chief Creative Officer, Chaka Sobhani. Since taking the reins, the duo has steered the network into a new era; one defined by tighter integration, emotionally-led creativity, and a sharpened focus on work that delivers both cultural impact and real business results. Chaka Sobhani commented: "I literally don't have the words. This means the absolute world to us. I couldn't be prouder of our DDB network and the passion, commitment, and love that has gone behind us getting here. A huge thank you also to our amazing clients for their trust and partnership - we wouldn't be here without you and I hope we've made you proud. Hopefully, this is the start of much more to come from DDB - and on a personal note, I can only say it's been the most incredible first year!" "2023 was a landmark year for DDB, but we saw it as the beginning," said Alex Lubar. "The momentum you're seeing now is the result of a global network aligned around a simple belief: creativity is the most powerful force in business. I'm incredibly proud of our exceptional teams and client partners on this collective effort." 2025 Cannes Lions highlights: Regional Network of the Year - Latin America Regional Network of the Year - Pacific Classic Track Agency of the Year - Africa Creative DDB Good Track Agency of the Year - Africa Creative DDB Experience Track Agency of the Year - DM9 Africa Creative DDB is the 1st ranked agency in Brazil, 2nd in Agency of the Year The first time DDB won four Grands Prix across different brands since 2016, including: Audio & Radio: "One Second Ads" (Budweiser, Africa Creative DDB) Music: "Tracking Bad Bunny" (Rimas Entertainment, DDB Latina Puerto Rico) Creative Data: "Efficient Way to Pay" (Consul, DM9) Sustainable Development Goals: "The Amazon Greenventory" (Natura, Africa Creative DDB) 20 total Gold Lions 37 total Silver Lions 51 total Bronze Lions 320 total shortlists First Gold Cannes Lion in Finland for Nordea, Parental Leave Mortgage First Grand Prix for DDB Latina Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico's second in history First Gold for DDB Warsaw for McDonald's Winter Takes on Color in Brand Experience & Activation Most Lions and Grands Prix won by DDB Latina ever, with 78 trophies vs their previous record of 44 Most awarded network in Brand Experience & Activation with 20 trophies Most awards on behalf of McDonald's than any other agency network This creative surge has been powered by the DDB Global Creative Council, Bullseye, which is led by Global Chief Creative Operations Officer, Susie Walker, and continues to push boundaries across regions. This year, the program has been expanded to include rising creative talent, who have actively shaped DDB's award-winning creative work. DDB's rise has also been fueled by the growing influence of some of its most dynamic agencies, including DDB Paris, Africa Creative DDB, alma, DM9, and NORD DDB, whose bold, culturally resonant work continues to redefine the standard of global creative excellence. As creativity becomes an increasingly vital business differentiator, DDB's Cannes success proves its belief that emotional storytelling not only moves people, it moves markets. This year's winning campaigns have not only earned accolades but delivered measurable growth for clients across categories. ABOUT DDB WORLDWIDE DDB ( is The Emotional Advantage Agency. We believe when people feel, they act—and when they act, brands grow. That's the emotional advantage. We use it to deliver intimacy at scale, unlock brand growth, and craft ideas that move people, business, and culture forward. As one of the world's leading advertising and marketing networks, DDB blends creative excellence with strategic effectiveness to drive measurable results. With 140 offices in 60+ countries, we partner with iconic brands like MARS, McDonald's, Molson Coors, Volkswagen, Amazon, Unilever, JetBlue, Adidas, PlayStation, and the U.S. Army. Our impact is proven: we were named the #1 Most Awarded Agency Network in the 2024 Effie Global Best of the Best, Global Network of the Year by Cannes Lions (2023 and 2025), and D&AD Network of the Year for three consecutive years (2021–2023). We've also ranked as a Top 3 Global Network on WARC for 13 of the last 16 years. Founded in 1949, DDB is part of Omnicom (NYSE: OMC). Media ContactPress@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE DDB Worldwide View original content to download multimedia:

Yahoo

5 hours ago

• Yahoo

Love Island USA Season 7 Claims Over 1 Billion Minutes Streamed

is taking over our lives yet another summer, and we can't be mad about it. Season 7 is riding the high of last year's fan-favorite group of Islanders, and they had big shoes to fill. Thankfully, the singles came to Fiji with a mission — make connections and stir up a little drama. From Huda Mustafa and Jeremiah Brown's whirlwind relationship to Ace Greene and Amaya Espinal's frenemy-ship, there's been a lot to take in so far. Apparently, fans are so obsessed with Love Island that we're watching a record-breaking amount of episodes. In a span of less than a week, Love Island USA had 1.2 billion minutes streamed across the nine episodes available, Deadline reports. Luminate looked at streaming minutes from June 6 to 12 to determine the total. It's the second most-watched streaming show on TV. So, fans are obsessing over tuning in to see what tricks Ariana Madix has up her sleeves next. That definitely makes us feel better about our TV watching habits. It's hard to believe that fans have already watched a billion minutes, and the season hasn't even been on for three weeks yet. That means thousands of people have witnessed antics like Taylor Williams bursting out of his straps after being seduced by Olandria Carthen. It's also a whole lot of people who have seen Huda crash out. Yikes. It took Season 6 nearly a month to crack a billion minutes viewed, so Season 7 is off to a strong start. Surely, with the way things are going in the villa these days, it won't take us long to rack up another billion minutes on this season alone. Love Island USA Season 7 is available to stream on Peacock. TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE TUNING INTO LOVE ISLAND SEASON 7? DO YOU PREFER SEASON 6 OR 7 OF THE SHOW SO FAR? The post Love Island USA Season 7 Claims Over 1 Billion Minutes Streamed appeared first on Reality Tea.