"As the last great Aztec ruler, Montezuma II inherited a sprawling yet fragile empire. This program studies his governance, its abrupt end at the hands of the conquistadors, and its historical meanings. Paralleling a major exhibition at the British Museum, the film features artifacts, architecture, and images that speak to Montezuma's humanity, his self-proclaimed divinity, and the cultural context in which he ruled. These include depictions from...

In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico with a roughshod crew of adventurers and the intent to expand the Spanish empire. Along the way, this brash and roguish conquistador schemed to convert the native inhabitants to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. In Tenochtitlán, the City of Dreams, Cortés met his Aztec counterpart, Montezuma: king, divinity, ruler of a complex and sophisticated civilization with fifteen million...