The Last of the Unjust (2013)

The Last of the Unjust, which screened in official selection at Cannes, is the newest film from Claude Lanzmann, the creator of Shoah* (1985) the seminal Holocaust documentary. From interviews he did in 1975 while creating Shoah, Lanzmann now focuses on a complex and unique figure: the Jewish Council president of the Thereseinstadt Ghetto, Benjamin Murmelstein. The film is essentially an extended, in-depth interview with one of the most notorious figures of the era. Lanzmann gives viewers a revealing depiction of Murmelstein, whose position highlights the complexities of moral responsibility and complicates our judgements and understanding of Jewish collaboration.