Derrida's Elsewhere
Dead French Philosophers • 1h 8m
Directed by Safaa Fathy • Documentary • 2000 • 68 minutes
An exploration of the man and his ideas, DERRIDA'S ELSEWHERE investigates the parallels between the personal life and the life work of arguably the most important philosopher of the 20th Century, Jacques Derrida.
The film is woven around readings from Derrida's book Circumfession, evoking a number of seemingly disparate themes including hospitality, religion, sexuality and the place of the subject in philosophy. Derrida shows us the common thread he perceives running though them: responsibility. Incorporating related imagery, DERRIDA'S ELSEWHERE uses footage of the places Derrida knew in his childhood and adolescence in Algeria, photos of his life there, super-8 footage from the 1960's and 70's, and images from Spain.
Filmmaker Safaa Fathy's stated goal is to show the links between Derrida's life and his work. In discussions, he describes his mother and childhood in the same manner as he does ideas, somewhere between affect and concept, at a boundary where a work becomes biography and biography gives birth to a work. DERRIDA'S ELSEWHERE takes us into his worlds - that of his work in Paris and that of his familial and spiritual roots in Algeria and the Spain of Lorca and El Greco. We begin to see how places allow words to appear, producing images that let us catch a glimpse of what's beyond.
Up Next in Dead French Philosophers
-
An Encounter with Simone Weil
Directed by Julia Haslett • Documentary • With Soraya Broukhim • 2014 • 85 minutes
"An Encounter with Simone Weil" tells the story of French philosopher, activist, and mystic, Simone Weil – a woman Albert Camus described as "the only great spirit of our time." On her quest to understand Simone W...
-
Foucault Against Himself
Directed by Francois Caillat • Documentary • With Michel Foucault • 2014 • 52 minutes
From the history of madness, to sexuality and pleasure in classical antiquity, to the law and penal institutions, the breadth of Michel Foucault's thought was astonishing.
One of the leading intellectuals of t...
-
Sociology is a Martial Art
Directed by Pierre Carles • Documentary • With Pierre Bourdieu • 2001 • 146 minutes
SOCIOLOGY IS A MARTIAL ART, a documentary about Pierre Bourdieu's life, became an unexpected hit in France just prior to his death. Filmed over three years, director Pierre Carles' camera follows Bourdieu as he l...
