Marcel Ophuls, a documentarist acclaimed for capturing some of the West’s most dramatic historical moments, including the Holocaust, was born in Frankfurt in 1927. His family sought refuge from Nazism, first in France and later in the United States. Following World War II, Ophuls returned to France, embarking on a career in filmmaking as an assistant to directors, including his father, German filmmaker Max Ophuls, and began producing work for television.
Ophuls’s early documentary, ‘Le Chagrin et la pitié’ (1969), stands as a seminal work in his filmography, profoundly influencing how the French perceived their own history during World War II. Spanning more than four hours, this film addressed France’s collaboration during the war, challenging the prevailing myth of a universally resistant France. Initially rejected by French television, it eventually gained significant acclaim among audiences.
Other notable works by Ophuls include ‘L’Empreinte de la Justice’ (1976), focusing on war crimes and crimes against humanity through the lens of the Nuremberg Trials, and ‘Hotel Terminus’ (1988), an examination of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie. Ophuls received an Oscar nomination for ‘Le Chagrin et la pitié’ and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1989 with ‘Hotel Terminus’.
In 2010, these films were showcased in a retrospective at the DocLisboa festival. Recently, Ophuls was reportedly completing a film on the rise of the far-right in Europe and the United States alongside the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This work, as noted by AFP, scrutinizes the occupation of Palestinian territories and its potential link to the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe.
