American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein

Directed By: David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier (Documentary | 2009 | USA | 88 minutes) In English with some Arabic language w/ English subtitles

AMERICAN RADICAL: THE TRIALS OF NORMAN FINKELSTEIN is a new feature-length documentary film from directors David Ridgen (MISSISSIPPI COLD CASE) and Nicolas Rossier (ARISTIDE AND THE ENDLESS REVOLUTION) that will have its theatrical premiere in Los Angeles at Laemmle Music Hall on Friday, March 12, 2010, where it will enjoy a week-long run.

The gala opening will feature Norman Finkelstein in person and a Q & A after the film, in an evening cosponsored by Levantine Cultural Center and L.A. Jews for Peace.

This probing, definitive documentary about American academic Norman Finkelstein reveals a devoted son of Holocaust survivors who is an ardent critic of Israel and US Middle East policy. The author of five provocative books, including THE HOLOCAUST INDUSTRY, Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies. Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity, and nationhood.

From Beirut to Kyoto, Ridgen and Rossier follow Finkelstein around the world as he attempts to negotiate a voice among both supporters and critics, providing an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy while giving equal time to both his critics and supporters. The documentary explores Finkelstein's history and his stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the politics of the Holocaust.

"For us, Finkelstein is the consummate documentary subject: a complex firebrand, principled to the point of self-ruin, at the apex of several of the world's largest conflicts. A man who has never been asked to appear on mainstream American television, but who regularly appears-always creating controversy-in the international media. At once anti-hero, clown, and merciless scholar, Finkelstein creates as many storms as he enters. And to what end? When radicals collide, does it create understanding? Some would argue that it sometimes does. Others would claim that Finkelstein's principled but too often bitter advocacy does much to discredit the cause of a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Audiences can decide for themselves."
— directors David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier