About

Known credits:
43
Birthday:
1925-11-27
Place of birth:
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Website:
N/A

Claude Lanzmann

Overview

Claude Lanzmann (27 November 1925 – 5 July 2018) was a French filmmaker known for the Holocaust documentary film Shoah (1985).

Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in Paris, France, the son of Paulette (née Grobermann) and Armand Lanzmann. His family was Jewish, and had immigrated to France from The Russian Empire. He was the brother of writer Jacques Lanzmann. Lanzmann attended the Lycée Blaise-Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand. While his family disguised their identity and went into hiding during World War II, he joined the French resistance at the age of 17, along with his father and brother, and fought in Auvergne. Lanzmann opposed the French war in Algeria and signed the 1960 antiwar petition Manifesto of the 121.

Lanzmann was the chief editor of the journal Les Temps Modernes, founded by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and lecturer at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. In 2009 he published his memoirs under the title Le lièvre de Patagonie ("The Patagonian Hare").

Lanzmann's most renowned work, Shoah (1985), is a nine-and-a-half-hour oral history of the Holocaust. Shoah is made without the use of any historical footage, and uses only first-person testimony from perpetrators and victims, and contemporary footage of Holocaust-related sites. Interviewees include the Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski and the American Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg. When the film was released, the director also published the complete text, including in English translation, with introductions by Lanzmann and Simone de Beauvoir.

Lanzmann disagreed, sometimes angrily, with attempts to understand the why of Hitler, stating that the evil of Hitler cannot or should not be explained and that to do so is immoral and an obscenity.

Lanzmann also oftentimes pushed his subjects to extreme emotional limits to bring out the most authentic reactions for his audience. The interview with barber Abraham Bomba is a staple of a Claude Lanzmann interview.

A compilation of "Shoah: Unseen Interviews" was released in 2012 that included interviews filmed at the time of the original production but never made it into the film.

On 4 July 2018, his last work, Les Quatre Soeurs (Shoah: Four Sisters) was released, featuring testimonials from four Holocaust survivors not included in his Shoah. Lanzmann died the following day.

From 1952 to 1959, he lived with Simone de Beauvoir. In 1963 he married French actress Judith Magre. They divorced in 1971, and he later married Angelika Schrobsdorff, a German-Jewish writer. He divorced a second time, and was the father of Angélique Lanzmann and Félix Lanzmann. Claude Lanzmann died on 5 July 2018 at his Paris home, after having been ill for several days. He was 92.

Source: Article "Claude Lanzmann" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known for

Acting
2019 We Shall Not Die Now Actor Self (archive footage) N/A
N/A
2019 A Philosopher in the Arena Actor Self 59
Average
2018 Ziva Postec: The Editor Behind the Film Shoah Actor Self (archive footage) 59
Average
2018 Shoah: Four Sisters Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
2017 Napalm Actor Self 58
Average
2016 The Clown Actor Self 59
Average
2015 Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah Actor Self 59
Average
2013 The Last of the Unjust Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
2010 The Karski Report Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
2008 Lights And Shadows Actor Self - Interviewer N/A
N/A
2001 Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
1999 A Visitor from the Living Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
1994 Tsahal Actor Self - Interviewer 58
Average
1988 Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie Actor Self 59
Average
1985 Shoah Actor Клод Ланцман 70
Good
1985 Shoah Actor N/A
N/A
1985 Shoah Actor Self - Interviewer 65
Fair
1973 Israel, Why Actor Self - Interviewer 59
Average
1970 Delphine Seyrig Actor N/A
N/A

Directing
2018 Shoah: Four Sisters Directing Director 59
Average
2018 Shoah: Four Sisters Directing Director 69
Fair
2017 Napalm Directing Director 58
Average
2013 The Last of the Unjust Directing Director 59
Average
2010 The Karski Report Directing Director 59
Average
2008 Lights And Shadows Directing Director N/A
N/A
2001 Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. Directing Director 59
Average
1999 A Visitor from the Living Directing Director 59
Average
1994 Tsahal Directing Director 58
Average
1985 Shoah Directing Director N/A
N/A
1985 Shoah Directing Director 65
Fair
1973 Israel, Why Directing Director 59
Average

Writing
2018 Shoah: Four Sisters Writing Writer 59
Average
2017 Napalm Writing Writer 58
Average
2013 The Last of the Unjust Writing Writer 59
Average
2010 The Karski Report Writing Writer 59
Average
2008 Lights And Shadows Writing Writer N/A
N/A
2001 Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. Writing Writer 59
Average
1999 A Visitor from the Living Writing Writer 59
Average
1994 Tsahal Writing Writer 58
Average
1985 Shoah Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1973 Israel, Why Writing Writer 59
Average
1970 Elise, or Real Life Writing Writer 59
Average

Production
1999 A Visitor from the Living Production Producer 59
Average