Hannah Arendt: Why Now?

Abstract

This essay–in–brief comes from a wish to understand Hannah Arendt as a film, as a biography of Arendt herself, and as a message to a 21st century audience. It looks at four main issues: Arendt’s own Jewish practice, the place of Arab and non–German Jews (both in Arendt’s life and work and in the film itself), the function (and problems) of the bureaucrat, and the funding for the film itself. Ultimately, it seeks to ask questions regarding the film itself, and why it was made [now].