DERRIDA

Jacques Derrida is internationally known as the father of deconstruction. But how to understand Derrida, if not through his work? And how to show his philosophy cinematically? Filmmaker Amy Ziering Kofman who herself was Derrida's student, accompanied him for five years in his public and private life. Her portrait confronts Derrida's way of thinking in several ways. Derrida, elaborating in Paris and Yale. Philosophizing about love in an interview with the filmmaker. Derrida speaks openly about his mother's death. The film shows him from a very personal side: Combing himself, standing at the kitchen window, joking around. Not being able to speak about how he met his wife.

Derrida is not a conventional portrait of the philosopher. The camera finds it's very own theory-level, reflecting the view of Derrida photographically. Derrida himself deconstructs the documentary, when he insists on its failure to get at the truth. Derrida is also shown as he reacts to a video-tape of an interview with him, and then reacting to the reaction. Derrida is both a dense and cheerful dialogue, which reflects the philosopher's theories in its topics and staging.

"With Derrida, the filmmaking challenge was much greater because his work isn't visual. But it was that challenge which drew me into the project, a challenge I knew would compel me to come back at the material again and again, and eventually lead me to my developing a form that could somehow interpret Derrida's thoughts in cinematic terms."