Derrida

For five years, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman followed the philosopher Jacques Derrida during his travels and his everyday life. Not without calling into question their filmmaking process, especially given they were confronted by one of the most visionary thinkers of the 20th century. How do you film a man thinking, and how do you film a thought? Step by step, the filmmakers approach Derrida in all his international renown but also in his intimacy, challenging his thought. It not a question of betraying the spirit of the thinker, who amuses himself with the cinematographical device and makes every effort to prevent a forced naturalism. According to Derridean logic, deconstruction will be needed to attempt a filmed “biography”, and there will have to be many detours to successfully talk of private matters: “if you had had the choice, which philosopher would you have had as a mother?” A fascinating and amused immersion with the philosopher, taking the form of a cinematic game between the filmmakers and their subject, far removed from conventional portraits. The cinematography is by Kirsten Johnson.

Aurélien Marsais