French director Guillaume Ribot’s new film shines a light on the making of Lanzmann’s nine-hour Holocaust opus – a tale of obsession, deception and dangerForty years after its release, Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah (1985) is regarded not just as one of the greatest documentaries ever made, but a film that had to be made in order to shake the world into engaging with its still recent trauma. A new documentary, however, shows how the French director’s seminal “fiction of the real” was almost never completed.In preparation for All I Had Was Nothingness, which premiered this week at the Berlin film festival, French director Guillaume Ribot revisited the entire 220 hours of raw footage that Lanzmann filmed between 1976-81, before he then edited it down into the nine-and-a-half hour film released in cinemas. The outtakes reveal unseen insecurities and self-doubt on behalf of an auteur famed for his subsequent grandeur, all while coupled with an earth-shattering persistence and determination. It...
The article explores Claude Lanzmann's groundbreaking documentary *Shoah* (1985), a nine-and-a-half-hour film that redefined Holocaust representation. Lanzmann broke traditional documentary rules, using subterfuge, such as adopting a fake name, to interview Nazi criminals who had evaded justice. Guillaume Ribot's new film, *All I Had Was Nothingness*, examines Lanzmann's methods, revealing his doubts and challenges, including funding issues and encounters with antisemitism. While Lanzmann's ethical bending was initially controversial, it was ultimately justified due to the gravity of the subject. Ribot's film highlights how Lanzmann's relentless pursuit of truth, despite obstacles, shaped this monumental work.
