French film-maker and journalist, Claude Lanzmann has passed away at the age of 92 years. The cause of the death still has not been given out. But the news of the demise was confirmed by his family.
Claude Lanzmann has been fairly popular. Especially because of his Holocaust documentary- Shoah.
Lanzmann was born in Paris in 1925. He came from a family of Russian Jewish immigrants who settled in France. Even when he was a teenager, Claude Lanzmann fought in the resistance war showing that he had an activist side to him. After that, he studied philosophy at Sorbonne University. Not only did he teach for a period in West Germany, but also got to know personalities like Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Claude Lanzmann was also a board member for the popular journal Les Temps Modernes. He even became it’s chief editor after Simone de Beauvoir died. Apart from working together, Claude Lanzmann and Beauvoir were also seeing each other personally. She was 18 years older than him, but they fell in love and lived together for 7 years.
He was also a journalist by profession. It is no doubt that this very journalism made him step into the field of film-making.
During his years as a journalist, Lanzmann wrote detailed significant articles on Israel, North Korea and Tibet. Also, Lanzmann served as a signatory in the Manifesto of the 121.
Throughout his time as a filmmaker, Claude Lanzmann created multiple documentaries. His first one was based on Israel. He attempted to understand the complex Israel reality. The most famous one- Shoah filmed interviews from death camp survivors from across the world. While filming a covert interview, he suffered an injury and was at the hospital for about a month. Even when it was supposed to be two-our long, Shoah came out as a 560 minute long documentary. The film contributed to our understanding of the second world war and helped educate hundreds of people across the world. Probably his finest work will make sure that the world remembers him for another hundred years.
Not only Shoah, but a lot of other Claude Lanzmann films made huge impacts on people globally. The premiere of his last film, Napalm was at Cannes in 2017. It also examined the experiences of Holocaust survivors. He also elaborated on his experience as a young journalist in North Korea.
Claude Lanzmann was well recognized for his efforts. He even won an honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. We hope that the world gets more enthusiasts like Claude Lanzmann to leave impacts on society.
