POSTPONED - Jew Süss and Jud Süss: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

POSTPONED - Jew Süss and Jud Süss

Film Screening and Panel Discussison

Pears Institute for the study of Antisemitism, Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and The Wiener Holocaust Library, in association with the Insiders/Outsiders Festival and the German Screen Studies Network.

Speakers: Professor Erica Carter, King’s College London and Dr Daniel Wildmann, Director Leo Baeck Institute London

Date: 22 March 2020

Venue: Birkbeck, University of London, Room B34, Torrington Square, WC1E 7HX

Time: 11:00am - 5:00pm

This double bill of two rarely-screened films, produced in the era of Nazi power promises to be a thought-provoking and troubling event. A panel discussion about both films will follow the screening.

11.00 -11.15 Welcome
11.15 – 1.00 Jew Süss (1934)
1.00 - 2.00 Break
2.00 – 3.45 Jud Süss (1940)
3.45 – 4.00 Break
4.00 – 5.00 Panel Discussion

Jew Süss (1934), produced in Britain, was directed by Lothar Mendes and starred Conrad Veidt – both Germans who left the country shortly after the Nazis won power in 1933. It was an adaptation of the 1925 novel by Lion Feuchtwanger, about a wealthy Jew’s rise to power in eighteenth century Germany, driven by his hope of bettering the life of all Jews. The film was intended as a clear rebuke to Nazi antisemitism and to draw attention to Nazi atrocities, although arguably it is also concerning in its representation of Jews.

Jud Süss (1940) directed by Veit Harlan, was one of the most successful pieces of antisemitic film propaganda produced in Nazi Germany. It was made under the personal direction of Joseph Goebbels who realised the antisemitic potential of the story. After seeing the final cut of the film, Goebbels wrote in his diary, ‘An antisemitic film of the kind we could only wish for. I am happy about it.’ Jud Süss was launched at the Venice Film Festival in September 1940 to great acclaim, receiving the ‘Golden Lion’ award. The film was a box office sensation, seen by some 20 million people across Germany and Europe, and became required viewing for all members of the SS.

The Pears Institute has been granted special permission by the German Federal Foreign Office to screen Jud Süss, with the kind agreement of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. The film will be shown with subtitles.

About the panel speakers: Erica Carter is Professor of German and Film, King’s College London and chair of the German Screen Studies Network. Dr Daniel Wildmann is a historian and film scholar specialising in German-Jewish history. He is a senior lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London and Director of the Leo Baeck Institute London. Chair: Professor David Feldman, Pears Institute for the study of Antisemitism, Birkbeck, University of London.

Please note: Please arrive in good time - for safety reasons latecomers cannot be admitted. This screening is being shown in a lecture theatre, not a cinema. The lecture theatre is not equipped to accept latecomers once the film has begun and the lights are down.