The Specialist, Portrait of a Modern Criminal

Un specialiste, portrait d’un criminel moderne

The incredible trial of a frighteningly ordinary civil servant. Inspired by Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem: Α Report on the Banality of Evil and drawing entirely on the 350 hours of rare footage recorded during the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 in Jerusalem, this film about obedience and responsibility serves as the portrait of an expert in problem resolving; a man responsible for the elimination of several million people; a modern criminal.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Eyal Sivan
Script: Eyal Sivan, Rony Brauman
Cinematography: Leo Hurwitz
Editing: Audrey Maurion
Sound: Nicolas Becker
Music: Yves Robert, Krishna Levy, Beatrice Thiriet, Jean-Michel Levy
Actors: Adolf Eichmann, Gideon Hausner, Gabriel Bach, Avraham Lindwasser, Franz Meyer, Pinhas Freudiger, Abba Kovner, Leslie Gordon, Michael Musmanno
Production: Momento Films
Producers: Eyal Sivan, Armelle Laborie
Co-production: France 2 Cinéma, Bremer Institut Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Image Création, RTBF Télévision belge, Lotus Film, Amythos Film TV Productions, Noga Communication-Channel 8
Executive producer: Armelle Laborie
Format: DCP
Color: B/W
Production Country: France, Israel, Germany, Austria, Belgium
Production Year: 1999
Duration: 124'
Contact: momento!
Awards/Distinctions: Adolf Grimme Award 2001

Eyal Sivan

Eyal Sivan was born in 1964 in Haifa, Israel, and grew up in Jerusalem. After working as a professional fashion photographer in Tel Aviv, he left Israel in 1985 and settled in Paris. Ever since, he has been splitting his time between Europe and Israel. Known for his controversial films, he has directed more than 10 political documentaries, which have won awards worldwide, and produced many others. His body of work has been screened and garnered distinctions at prestigious international festivals. Apart from theatrical releases and TV broadcasts, his films are regularly screened in major art shows around the world. He publishes papers and essays and gives lectures on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, documentary filmmaking and ethics, political crimes, the political use of memory, genocide and issues of representation, etc. He is the founder and the artistic director of the Paris-based documentary film production company momento! and the film distribution agency Scalpel. He is the founder and Chief Editor of South Cinema Notebooks - a journal of cinema and political criticism, edited by the Sapir Academic College in Israel where he regularly lectures. He is member of the editorial board of the Paris based publishing house La Fabrique. In the last years, Sivan was Reader (associate professor) in Media Production at the school of Arts and Digital Industries (ADI), at the University of East London (UEL) were he was co-leading the MA program in Film, video and new media. Currently, he is an Honorary Fellow at University of Exeter UK, he is teaching at the Master's program in Film at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam.

Filmography

1987 Aqabat-Jaber, Passing Through 1990 Izkor, Slaves of memory
1991 Israland (TV)
1993 Itgaber, He Will overcome
1994 Jerusalem(s), Borderline Syndrome 1995 Aqabat-Jaber, Peace with Νo Return?
1996 Itsembatsemba, Rwanda οne Genocide Later (short)
1997 Burundi, under Terror (short)
1999 The Specialist, Portrait of a modern Criminal
2001 On the Top of the Descent (short) 2003 Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel (co-direction)
2004 I Love You All (co-direction)
2005 Faces of the Fallen (TV)
2007 Citizens K, the Twin Brothers (TV)
2009 Jaffa, the Orange’s Clockwork
2012 Common State, Potential Conversation (1)