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“History has shown on many occasions that antisemitism is always a symptom of something. The mistake regularly made is to imagine that anti-Semitism says something in itself about hatred of Jews.” — Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur

This documentary masterfully traces the history of anti-Semitism and its effects, from cartoon-like medieval church iconography showing Jews with funnels on their heads, to WWII propaganda comparing Jews to rats and neo-Nazis marching in the streets of modern day France.

How did we get from saying “never again” after the Holocaust to murders of French Jewish children and calls for the expulsion of Jews from western democracies? To answer that question, director Ilan Ziv focuses on key events from the last 150 years, including the Dreyfus Affair, the first widely disseminated anti-Semitic texts (like Henry Ford’s The International Jew and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion), anti-Jewish propaganda in occupied France, and the upsurge in anti-Semitism beginning in the 1980s.

While ANTISEMITISM takes a broad, sweeping approach, Ziv maintains a steadfast focus on human stories. We meet the descendants of Alfred Dreyfus and the heartbroken son of murdered 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll, killed by a young neighbor because he assumed since she was Jewish she would have money. Ziv also draws on an array of thoughtful historians, sociologists, journalists and one of France’s only female rabbis to shed light on the enduring power of anti-Semitism and its dangers not only for Jews, but for societies at large.

“An important chronicle of bigotry and violence.” —Mark Burger, YES WEEKLY

“More relevant today than ever.” —Jeremie Abessira, TJFF.com

“An enlightening journey into anti-Semitism. It's educational, powerful, often chilling.” —Le Parisien

“In this solidly documented film, director Ilan Ziv delves into the heart of this hatred from multiple sources and tries to explain the reasons for its resurgence." “This documentary examines with great detail a story that seems to repeat itself. By retracing these significant facts, and thanks to a wealth of archival images and very relevant testimonies, this investigation succeeds in brilliantly demonstrating how the stereotypes of a not-so-distant past have given rise to modern anti-Semitism. how terrifying, this film appeals to our vigilance, so that it never falls asleep." —Le Figaro TV Magazine

“Based on numerous testimonies, this rigorous documentary can contribute to the necessary surge of collective consciousness.” —L’Humanité

"A must-see film. This exhaustive documentary allows us to understand in depth the reasons for this disease that we thought was cured but which continues to kill." —La Vie

"Ilan Ziv takes the time to approach anti-Semitism precisely as a political instrument without ever giving in to sentimentality." —L'Obs

"It is a vast history of anti-Semitism that this ambitious sum sets out to tell, starting from the current resurgence of violence against Jews in Western countries and going back to the founding myths inherited from the Middle Ages.” —Télérama

“Highly recommended! Thoughtful and thought provoking; speaks with a quiet urgency.” —Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)