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Philosophy and Philosophers FILMS & VIDEOS ON Philosophy and Philosophers SEE A PREVIEW! THE ISTER Visit www.frif.com A Film by David Barison & Daniel Ross NEW At the height of WWII, the most The poem in ques- release influential philosopher of the tion begins: 20th century delivered a series of lectures on a Now come fire! poem about the Danube River, by one of Eager are we Germany’s greatest poets. To see the day The philosopher was Martin Heidegger, who in The film THE ISTER 1927 achieved worldwide fame with his magnum takes up some of opus, Being and Time. Heidegger embraced the the most challenging paths in Heidegger’s National Socialist ‘revolution’ in 1933, becoming thought, as we journey from the mouth of rector of Freiburg University. His inaugural the Danube in Romania to its source in the address culminated in “Heil Hitler!” Black Forest. However controversial Heidegger After clashing with the Nazi bureaucracy, he remains, his thought is alive in the work of some resigned the rectorate in 1934. Nine years later, of the most remarkable thinkers working today. as the tide of war was turning against Germany, Four of these conduct our voyage upstream — Heidegger spent a semester lecturing on the Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin. He focused on a Bernard Stiegler, and, the filmmaker poem about the Danube, “The Ister.” Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Rather than an esoteric retreat into the world of Winding through the shattered remains of the poetry, Heidegger’s lectures confronted the polit- former Yugoslavia, a Hungary busily restoring its ical, cultural and military chaos facing Germany national mythology, and through a Germany and the world in 1942, a time he characterized that is both the heart of the new Europe and as “the stellar hour of our commencement.” the ghost of the old one, the Danube itself is the question of the film. By drawing the places and times of the river into a constellation with Heidegger’s thought, THE ISTER invites the viewer to participate in some of the most provocative ques- tions facing Europe and the world today. These questions-of home and place, culture and memory, of technology and ecology, of politics and war-beckon us now, as they did Heidegger in 1942. continued on pages 2-3 FIRST RUN/ICARUS FILMS 1 Key Personalities in THE ISTER MARTIN HEIDEGGER (1889-1976) JEAN-LUC NANCY After an apprenticeship with Edmund Husserl, Born in 1940, Jean-Luc Nancy has written Heidegger in 1927 published his magnum opus, extensively on philosophy, literature and art. In Being and Time, which sought to retrieve the the 1970s he was a frequent collaborator with ‘question of being,’ forgotten since before the time Philippe Lacoue- of Plato. In 1933 he succeeded Husserl as profes- Labarthe, and in sor of philosophy at Freiburg University. After 1980 they jointly the war, Heidegger opened the ‘Centre for was banned from Philosophical teaching by the occupy- Research on the ing forces because of Political’ in Paris to his Nazi affiliation. His encourage philosophi- work has influenced cal work on politics. such later thinkers as Jean-Paul Sartre, PHILIPPE LACOUE-LABARTHE Herbert Marcuse, and Born in 1940, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe was a Jacques Derrida. close associate of the late Jacques Derrida. In 1987 Lacoue- FRIEDRICH HÖLDERLIN (1770-1843) Labarthe published Friedrich Hölderlin is regarded as one of the Heidegger, Art and greatest poets in the German language. Politics, widely His poetry reflects a regarded as the most preoccupation with thoughtful and innova- philosophical themes, tive work on the as well as a profound theme of Heidegger consideration of the and Nazism. meaning of ancient Greek culture and HANS-JÜRGEN SYBERBERG its significance in Hans-Jürgen Syberberg was born in Pomerania modern times. in 1935. After the collapse of the Nazi regime he found himself in East Germany, where he BERNARD STIEGLER began making films as Born in France in 1952, Bernard Stiegler a teenager. He became a philosopher while spending five years migrated to West in prison for armed Germany in 1953. robbery. In 1994 he Syberberg’s best- published the first known film is the volume of his magnum seven-hour epic, opus, Technics and Hitler: A Film From Time, an examination Germany (1977). of the essence of humanity in its relation to technology. 2 CALL TOLL FREE 800.876.1710 The Ister “Reinvigorating a conversation among philoso- “A probing, evasive meditation on time, culture phers and historians of ideas as well... and change, images and actions, and the THE ISTER plays a valuable role... in retrieving necessity for both.” —Film Comment the Heidegger debates from biographical “Exposes some of the most powerful transfor- attacks and putting them back on a more mative currents and possibilities at play in the reasoned and nuanced philosophical plane.” philosopher’s reading of the Western tradition. —Chronicle of Higher Education Visually articulate... A unique contribution to “By demonstrating the historical context and the critical articulation of Heidegger’s thinking.” metaphysical subtlety of the philosopher’s —Alejandro A. Vallega, Author of Heidegger and thought [this is] a substantial contribution to the Issue of Space: Thinking on Exilic Grounds Heidegger studies. Helps to remind us that we “Very moving! Vivid, nuanced and properly are still far from successfully working through balanced on the complex questions of Heidegger’s Heidegger’s traumatic legacy for philosophy: thought, his political engagements, and the How could perhaps the greatest philosopher general spirit attaching to these issues.” of the 20th century support its most despicable —Lawrence J. Hatab, Professor of Philosophy, political regime?” —Iain Thomson, Old Dominion University Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of New Mexico “A stimulating three-hour journey in time, space and the mind.” —The Observer 2005 Heidegger Symposium, University of Dallas 2005 WaterWays Conference on the Confluence of Art, Science, Policy, & Philosophy Best Film, Quebec Film Critics, 2004 Montreal Festival of New Cinema National Cinema Research Group Prize, 2004 Marseille Documentary Festival 189 minutes | color | 2004 | Order # PH05-15 Sale/VHS or DVD: $490 | Rental/VHS: $150 FIRST RUN/ICARUS FILMS 3 DERRIDA’S ELSEWHERE A Film by Safaa Fathy An exploration of the man and his ideas, El Greco. We begin to see how places allow DERRIDA’S ELSEWHERE investigates the paral- words to appear, producing images that let us lels between the personal life and the life work catch a glimpse of what’s beyond. of one of the most important philosophers of “Highly Recommended! A unique and intensely the 20th century, Jacques Derrida. personal examination.” —Educational Media The film is woven around readings from Reviews Online Derrida’s book Circumfession, evoking a “Gathers shards of ideas and orchestrates number of seemingly disparate themes includ- them in a coherent monologue... Many of the ing hospitality, religion, sexuality and the place leading scholars and translators of Derrida’s of the subject in philosophy. Derrida shows us work were collaborators on the film, and it the common thread he perceives running shows. With translations that are excellent and though them: responsibility. Incorporating complete, this film would be well used in a related imagery, DERRIDA’S ELSEWHERE uses classroom to introduce the French philosopher footage of the places Derrida knew in his child- to students.” —French Review hood and adolescence in Algeria, photos of his life there, super-8 footage from the 1960’s and “Enthralling!” —Leonardo: Journal of the 70’s, and images from Spain. International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology Filmmaker Safaa Fathy’s stated goal is to show the links between Derrida’s life and his work. In 2001 Vancouver International discussions, he describes his mother and child- Film Festival hood in the same manner as he does ideas, 2001 Arab Film Festival somewhere between affect and concept, at a (San Francisco) boundary where a work becomes biography and 68 minutes | color | 2000 | Order # PH05-1 biography gives birth to a work. DERRIDA’S Sale/VHS: $298 | Rental/VHS: $100 ELSEWHERE takes us into his worlds-that of his work in Paris and that of his familial and spiri- 52 minutes | color | 2000 | Order # PH05-2 Sale/VHS: $248 | Rental/VHS: $75 tual roots in Algeria and the Spain of Lorca and 4 CALL TOLL FREE 800.876.1710 JEAN-PAUL SARTRE and SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Directed by Max Cacopardo Cinematography by Michel Brault Interviews by Madeleine Gobeil & Claude Lanzmann NEW In this rare documentary from Sartre and de Beauvoir, lifelong companions, release 1967, never before available on are jointly questioned about their work habits video, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and and the nature of their relationship. But this is Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), discuss their not a fawning interview session, however, as work, their lives, and the role of public intellec- both Gobeil and Lanzmann are not shy about tuals in modern society. posing provocative questions. Sartre is confronted with charges that he is “the greatest They agreed to appear together for the first time thinker of the 19th century,” while de Beauvoir in this film, and to talk to their friend Canadian is asked whether she feels “incomplete” as a journalist Madeleine Gobeil, and to their woman because she never had a child. colleague and Les Temps Modernes editor Claude Lanzmann (who later produced Shoah, the epic documentary on the Holocaust). In his Montparnasse apartment, Sartre discusses his reasons for refusing the Nobel Prize in Literature, his response to public criticism, his opposition to the Vietnam War, his role as Chairman of the Bertrand Russell War JEAN-PAUL SARTRE AND SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Crimes Tribunal, and the seeming contradiction also includes a discussion with Sartre’s between such political involvements and his 85-year-old mother, and his adopted daughter.
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