Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny

"If one is attacked as a Jew, one must defend oneself as a Jew.” – Hannah Arendt, 1933

Australian Premiere

One of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century, the German-American philosopher Hannah Arendt transformed her time as a political prisoner during World War II into daring insights about the human condition, the banality of evil and totalitarianism.

This new documentary tells the story of Arendt’s life and work using first person accounts from Arendt, brought to vivid life with voiceover from acclaimed actress Nina Hoss, plus accounts from her friends and colleagues and new interviews with scholars and students of Arendt. They trace her resistance against the Nazi regime, her work to help Jewish children escape to Palestine, her complex 50-year relationship with German philosopher Martin Heidegger, and her time in a prisoner of war camp before fleeing to the United States.

Today, as authoritarianism rises and threatens democratic institutions, Arendt’s works, including the landmark The Origins of Totalitarianism, have topped best seller lists around the world, and her warning that “we must face what is happening now” rings truer than ever.

Each session will be preceded by a video introduction from Dr Simon Holloway from the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.