FEATURE FILM / 1999

Smoke and Mirrors: A History of Denial

In the early 20th Century, tobacco merchants were unaware of the danger of their increasingly popular product. Smoke & Mirrors documents the rise of the cigarette, and the tobacco industry's subsequent attempts to conceal its emerging link with cancer and other smoking-related illnesses. Throughout the 1940's, the scientific case against the cigarette was building. However, despite the evidence that tobacco was a major cause of disease and death among smokers, tobacco companies began conducting successful campaigns of misinformation designed to weave cigarettes into the social fabric of America by emphasizing the "glamorous" and "sophisticated" side of smoking. Today fifty years of documented denial is finally coming back to haunt the industry. Smoke & Mirrors examines this sordid past, and illuminates the issues that threaten tobacco's future.This video is divided into two parts for your viewing convenience.