Hannah Arendt (film)

Director: Margarethe von Trotta, 113 min., 2012
German with englisch subtitles

In 1960, philosopher Hannah Arendt travels to Jerusalem to observe the trial of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann. She expects to encounter a monster – but instead meets an unassuming bureaucrat. This experience gives rise to her famous analysis of the ‘banality of evil’. The film paints a thoughtful portrait of a courageous and determined woman who is not afraid to publicly express controversial ideas.

As a biographical feature film, it condenses Arendt's observations and assessments of the Eichmann trial into a dynamically narrated picture of an exceptional intellectual of the 20th century. In addition to her intellectual brilliance, the intimate depictions of the New York milieu of German-Jewish emigrants in the early 1960s are also impressive – a fascinating look at a woman who made history.

With an introduction by historian Hanco Jürgens.

In collaboration with the Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam.