American Radical:
The Trials of Norman Finkelstein David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier, Canada, 2009, 84 minutes
Saturday, May 8 | 2:00pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
The credo that the “personal is political” could have been written especially for Norman Finkelstein. A man who seems physiologically incapable of shutting his mouth, even when it costs him dearly, Finkelstein has made almost as many passionate enemies as friends and supporters in his career as a teacher, scholar and writer. The term divisive doesn’t quite do the man justice.
Co-directed by David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier, American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is a critical depiction not only of great personal sacrifice made in the name of academic freedom, but more importantly the threat posed to the very idea of freedom of speech. Deeply influenced by his mother who believed that the Jewish people had a special obligation to ease the suffering of humanity specifically because of what was done to them (both his parents were Holocaust survivors), Norman came to radicalism early on in his life. Norman began protesting against the war in Vietnam while at Princeton, and it was here that he also met Noam Chomsky, who was to become both a friend and a mentor. Chomsky’s moral force influenced Finkelstein to attack the spurious scholarship of Joan Peter’s book From Time Immemorial.
It was the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, however, that truly cemented Finkelstein’s commitment to the cause of the Palestinian people. He has argued in a series of books that the Holocaust has become something of a industry. Sometimes depicted as irrational or unstable, as in Yoav Shamir’s film Defamation, Finkelstein has written a number of books that level furious criticism of Israel. At lectures and debates around the world, he takes on all comers, be they august rabbinical scholars or hysterical university students. Unfailingly passionate and articulate almost to a fault, his war of words with Alan Dershowitz effectively ended Finkelstein’s academic career when he accused Dershowitz of plagiarism.
Whether you think Finkelstein is a raving anti-semite, or a profoundly courageous humanist, he does not lack the courage of his convictions. But more important than any label attached to him, is his right to write, think and openly state his beliefs without fear of censure or reprisal.
“A powerful portrait of a man with the courage to voice heartfelt criticisms of a system he feels is morally repugnant.”
- Bernard Perusse, The Montreal Gazette
Directors’ biographies
David Ridgen’s award-winning work has been screened to acclaim around the world. He is currently spearheading two collaborations that will seek to investigate all the remaining civil rights era cold cases in the American south, and a number of unsolved cases from Canada. Ridgen is working with the Canadian Journalism Foundation to establish Canada’s first fund for investigative journalists. He continues to work for the CBC, and is stationed at the CBC’s Fifth Estate.
Nicolas Rossier is a film producer/director whose works have appeared on televisions and festivals around the world. Rossier was born and raised in Geneva and moved to New York in 1997 to study at the Lee Srasberg Theater Institute and film production at the School for Visual Arts and the New York Film Academy. He is currently developing a new reality show on human rights and law enforcement.
