Claude Lanzmann dies

Shoah director was 92

by Amber Wilkinson

Claude Lanzmann pictured at the New York Film Festival
Claude Lanzmann pictured at the New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Shoah director Claude Lanzmann has died in Paris, aged 92.

The French director was best known for his benchmark documentary on the Holocaust, which runs at more than nine hours and features extensive testimonies from those who spent time in the Nazi death camps. The film took more than 12 years to make and Lanzmann reflected on the process in 2015 documentary Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah.

The director also revisited the Holocaust in his 2013 documentary The Last Of The Unjust, about the last Jewish elder of Theresienstadt. "When I saw the rushes, I decided that I was the only one able to do it," he told us, saying that is what gave him the strength to complete it.

In 2015 he was the subject of Adam Benzine's documentary Claude Lanzmann: Spectres Of The Shoah.

His final film, Napalm, was completed last year.

Share this with others on...
News

Wool power Concrete Land director Asmahan Bkerat on learning about herself as she filmed a Bedouin clan's life

New eyes on Old Hollywood How images of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth inspired Pretty Babies

Lost Boys Wayne Wapeemukwa on drawing on reality for Manhunt while avoiding a true crime approach

Serious about comedy Louis Paxton on grounding the humour of The Incomer in darker elements

That shrinking feeling Shivek Gupta and Syed Shadan on the Mumbai housing market and Chaar Diwaari

A woman who didn't belong Anna Cazenave Cambet on working with Vicky Krieps in Love Me Tender

More news and features

We're bringing you reviews and more from the Locarno Film Festival.



We're looking forward to the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Frightfest.



We've recently brought you coverage of the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Muslim International Film Festival, Docs Ireland, Sheffield DocFest, ImagineNative, Tribeca and Cannes.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


EIFF Gets back its mojo


Locarno Isabella Rossellini receives Excellence Award


London Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut to close festival


San Sebastian announces José Giovanni retrospective


Dinard Amira Casar to head jury, plus opening film announced