PRESS RELEASE
February 2010
For Immediate Release
info@americanradicalthefilm.com
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
by David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“AMERICAN RADICAL: THE TRIALS OF NORMAN FINKELSTEIN” TO MAKE ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES CINEMA.
New York, February 10, 2010 Ridgen and Rossier’s new compelling documentary about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein is to open soon at Anthology Film Archives. The film has already played in prominent festivals around the world including the Sheffield Doc/Fest documentary festival, IDFA in Amsterdam and the Jewish Film Festival in Jerusalem.
American Radical is the definitive film about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, staunch critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books including The Holocaust Industry, Beyond Chutzpah and the upcoming title, This Time We Went to Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. 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. The film provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to both his many critics and his supporters, while following him around the globe as he labors to change peoples’ minds.
American Radical is produced and directed by accomplished documentary filmmakers David Ridgen (Mississippi Cold Case) and Nicolas Rossier (Aristide and the Endless Revolution). Say Ridgen and Rossier, “We were fascinated by the idea of fighting fire with fire. Strong offense. Eye for an eye. Polarizing forces that create understanding in their collision, like filmmaker Eisenstein’s cells. That it takes a radical to tame radicalism, or perhaps to end it. Norman Finkelstein embodies this duality. For us, he is a case study for it in fact. Some important voices say he is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Others say he is a street fighter for the downtrodden. But what is the real politick of his words and actions and existence? These are the questions we wanted to answer. The more one considers Norman and those in his realm, the more one recognizes that no radical is without sin or innocence. There is worth in being a modern firebrand, and there are great costs. And both may lie where you least expect to discover them.
Completed in 2009, American Radical was picked up for US distribution by Typecast Releasing. Typecast will make American Radical available for broadcast, theaters, festival screenings, DVD and digital distribution in the USA. Uk based Mercury Media will take care of the foreign rights.
For more information contact:
Nic Rossier and David Ridgen
info@americanradicalthefilm.com
www.americanradicalthefilm.com
Typecast Releasing
info@typecastreleasing.com
www.typecastfilms.com