JOHN O'CONNELL FILM AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY - American History Association | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Kassell Dokfest
Totalitarianism • The “Banality of Evil” • Human Freedom • Jewish Studies • Authoritarianism • Disinformation and Conformity • Human Rights • Immigrants and Refugees • Existential Loneliness • Building Community • Holocaust • Antisemitism
Date of Completion: 2025 | Run Time: 84 minutes | Language: English | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript & Discussion Guide | Co-Directors: Chana Gazit & Jeff Bieber | Co-Writers: Jeff Bieber & Maia Harris | Producers: Salme López Sabina, Niklas Hoffmann-Walbeck & Chana Gazit | Editor: Sabine Krayenbühl | Original Music Composer: Florian Tessloff | Archive Producers: Pearl Lieberman & Frederike Ruland
Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny is a feature documentary about the extraordinary life and work of one of the most influential and fearless political thinkers of the twentieth century. Arendt's philosophical writings emerged directly from her dramatic and often terrifying experiences, coming of age in Germany as Hitler rose to power, then finding her way to the United States as a Jewish refugee. Through her bravery, judgement, and unflinching capacity to ‘make the facts welcome, Arendt transformed her time as a political prisoner, refugee and survivor in Europe, along with her observations of America during the McCarthy Era, the Vietnam War and the Watergate crisis, into thoughtful and daring insights into the human condition, the refugee crisis, democracy and totalitarianism, which continue to resonate more than a half century later.
The film deals with the rise of the Nazi Totalitarian state, antisemitism, and the Holocaust, that includes footage of extermination camps.
The Washington Post | Kathleen Parker
“Hannah Arendt’s warnings decades ago about totalitarian threats to democratic institutions seem increasingly prophetic.”
L.A. Times | Jackie Calmes, Columnist
“What Hannah Arendt saw in Hitler’s Germany, we can see in Trump’s America.”
San Diego Jewish World | Eric George Tauber
"Hannah Arendt Documentary Warns of Totalitarianism"
Artechock Magazine, Germany | Rüdiger Suchsland, Culture Writer
"American directors Jeff Bieber and Chana Garzit have now portrayed Arendt in an accessible yet sophisticated way."
"Hannah Arendt was not an easy person, but she is very approachable and still has something to say to everyone today. This film shows exactly that."
ND Jounalismus Von Links, Germany
"Directors Jeff Bieber and Chana Gazit reveal the paradoxes that make up Hannah Arendt's controversial work."
The New York Times | Mike Hale, TV Critic
"A timely installment of 'American Masters.'"
Boston Globe | Mark Feeney, TV Critic
'American Masters' explores the origins of Hannah Arendt
Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival | Jesper Isaksen
★★★★ "'Hannah Arendt - Facing Tyranny' is a welcoming edition of professionally made documentaries that investigates the origins of totalitarian movements. And with a coherent structure and relevant footage that closely follows in her footsteps, the documentary succeeds in giving us a thorough journey into the life of Hannah Arendt and presents us with the historical surroundings that shaped her thoughts and Jewish identity."
Telepolis Magazine | Rüdiger Suchsland, Culture Writer
"A new documentary offers a fresh perspective on the life and work of the influential political theorist. Her ideas are more relevant today than ever."
Kino Zeit Magazine | Andreas Köhnemann, Film Critic
"Who Hannah Arendt was – this question is, of course, too vast to be answered exhaustively in an 86-minute film. Nevertheless, Bieber, Gazit, and Krayenbühl succeed in getting close to Arendt's character and thought processes, and in highlighting her relevance to our present day. This film comes at precisely the right time."
AWARDS
John O'Connell Film Award for Best Historical Documentary | American History Association
FESTIVALS
Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival
Kassell Dokfest
Copenhagen Headliner Film Festival
Hannah Arendt’s Central Concern
• Totalitarianism: She analyzed how modern regimes like Nazism and Stalinism sought total control over human life.
• The “Banality of Evil”: From her coverage of Adolf Eichmann’s trial, she argued evil can be carried out by ordinary people who fail to think for themselves.
• Human Freedom: She saw political action — speaking, acting, creating together — as the essence of freedom.
• Thinking and Judgment: She believed every person has a responsibility to think critically and judge moral questions independently.
Why Hannah Arendt Matters Today
Arendt’s work speaks powerfully to challenges we face now:
• Authoritarianism: Her insights into how totalitarian movements arise help us understand threats to democracy today.
• Disinformation and conformity: Her warning about “thoughtlessness” and failing to think critically, connects to debates about propaganda, social media, and critical thinking.
• Existential Loneliness: Arendt pinpointed loneliness, the feeling of being disconnected to society and family, as a key ingredient that led people toward totalitarian movements. In 2023, the Surgeon General issued a report about a Crisis of Loneliness in the United States. The issues covered by Arendt and the 2023 report are strikingly similar.
• Human rights, immigrants and refugees: As a refugee herself, Arendt wrote about statelessness and the struggles of displaced people — issues that remain urgent today.
• Building community: Her vision of politics as collective action reminds us of the importance of dialogue, participation, and responsibility in civic life.
Summary
Arendt was a refugee, thinker, and witness to the 20th century’s darkest events. Her work challenges us to stay vigilant about power, to think critically, and to take responsibility for the world we share.