L’avocat de la terreur (Terror’s Advocate). 2007. Directed by Barbet Schroeder

Film

L’avocat de la terreur (Terror’s Advocate). 2007. France. Directed by Barbet Schroeder. Courtesy Magnolia Pictures and Les Films du Losange

L’avocat de la terreur (Terror’s Advocate). 2007. France. Directed by Barbet Schroeder. In French, German, English, Khmer; English subtitles. 135 min.

Barbet Schroeder continues to plumb the depths of human depravity in this portrait of Jacques Vergès, the French lawyer who sympathetically defended, and even abetted, some of the past century’s most unrepentant characters, including Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon,” and Carlos the Jackal. Village Voice critic J. Hoberman, in citing the film as one of the year’s best, wrote, “Terror’s Advocate is largely a mix of talking heads and archival footage, but as Vergès’s connections to Swiss neo-Nazis and Congo secessionists are explored, the movie becomes a fantastic international thriller.”

Digital preservation courtesy Magnolia Pictures and Les Films du Losange

This film accompanies To Save and Project: The 16th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.

Wed, Jan 9, 2019, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 4:00 p.m.

Introduced by director Barbet Schroeder

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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