Terror’s Advocate
Part of the BAMcinematek series Mad Obsessions: The Films of Barbet Schroeder
Fri, Oct 10 at 3, 6:15, 9pm
Directed by Barbet Schroeder
(2007) 135min
“[A] fascinating, appalling documentary portrait…”—The New Yorker
This fascinating documentary examines the life and career of French lawyer Jacques Vergès, the enigmatic defender of high profile terrorists, Nazis, and heads of state. After representing (and later marrying) bomber Djamila Bouhired during the Algerian War, Vergès disappeared. He returned to the public eye eight years later to take on clients such as Klaus Barbie and Carlos “The Jackal.” Terror’s Advocate is an important document about twentieth century conflict and the evolution of global terrorism. In French, German, English, and Khmer with English subtitles.
New Yorker Review of Terror's Advocate
"Barbet Schroeder’s fascinating, appalling documentary portrait of the French attorney Jacques Vergès, who enthusiastically represented Klaus Barbie, Carlos the Jackal, and other innocent bystanders, is about much more than one man’s delusions." More
The New York Times Review of Terror's Advocate
"...one of the most engaging, morally unsettling political thrillers in quite some time, with the extra advantage of being true." More
Time Out New York Interview with Barbet Schroeder About Terror's Advocate
"Everything he’s done since is, arguably, a response to colonialism,” Schroeder says. “Basically, Vergès has tried to reproduce the powerful, extraordinary moment of his early career throughout his whole life. It didn’t always work out as nicely.” More