Mark Drumbl Appears on “Law on Film” Podcast The podcast bridges the world of law and cinema by featuring an expert discussing a film from a legal perspective.

By Law Communications
April 8, 2026

Washington and Lee law professor Mark Drumbl recently appeared on the “Law on Film” podcast along with Barbora Holá, his coauthor on the book “Informers Up Close.” The podcast, hosted by Seton Hall law professor Jonathan Hafetz, is focused on the intersection of law and film, with each episode featuring experts discussing a film with a strong legal perspective.

This episode examined “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s exploration of surveillance, complicity, and the brittle architecture of authoritarian legality in the final years of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany). The critically acclaimed 2006 film examines how law can be co-opted into an instrument of domination, how bureaucratic routines of “security” normalize repression, and how small acts of resistance acquire profound moral weight under systems built on fear and an extensive system of informers.

Drumbl and Holá brought their perspective to the film by drawing on research from their recent book “Informers Up Close: Stories from Communist Prague” (Oxford Univ. Press). The book offers a deeply researched, empirically grounded look at informers within repressive regimes and transitional justice processes.

The full podcast episode is available on streaming platforms and on the show’s website.

Professor Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor and Director of the Transnational Law Institute at W&L. His research and teaching interests include public international law, global environmental governance, international criminal law, post-conflict justice, and transnational legal process. His work has been relied upon by national and international courts; he has served as a defense lawyer in Rwandan genocide trials; co-authored an amicus brief to the International Criminal Court in the Ongwen case; and has been an expert in litigation including on international terrorism, with the UN in matters involving child soldiers, and with the UN Human Rights Council in the drafting of a global convention to criminalize racist hate speech.

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