THE GOLDMAN CASE

Le Procès Goldman

North American Premiere | France | 2023 | Drama | 115 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Cédric Kahn
Written by: Cédric Kahn, Nathalie Hertzberg
Produced by: Benjamin Elalouf (Moonshaker Films), Cédric Kahn (Tropdebonheur Productions), Nathalie Dennes (The Living)
Cinematography: Patrick Ghiringhelli
Film Editing: Yann Dedet
Cast: Arieh Worthalter (Pierre Goldman), Arthur Harari (Georges Kiejman), Stéphane Guérin-Tillier (President of the Court), Nicolas Briançon (Maître Henri-René Garaud), Aurélien Chaussade (the Attorney General)
International Sales: Charades
U.S. Distributor: Menemsha Films
U.S. release date: 2024

“I’m innocent because I’m innocent,” Pierre Goldman decries. An incendiary left-wing activist and highly controversial public figure, Goldman proclaims his innocence of the double homicide he’s accused of, despite his admission of multiple armed robberies and shady dealings. Director Cédric Kahn‘s stark courtroom drama recounts Goldman’s 1975 trial in minute detail, holding a magnifying glass to the racial prejudice and antisemitism that were rampant in the country at the time, and examining even broader questions of Jewish identity. Reflecting the political, ideological and racial tensions that marked 1970s France and Europe, when the proceedings were considered to be the trial of the century. This meticulous retelling of that page in history was the Directors’ Fortnight opening film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Starting out as an assistant editor for directors Maurice Pialat (on Under the Sun of Satan, 1987) and Catherine Breillat (on 36 Fillette, 1988), Cédric Kahn went on to become a screenwriter, cowriting scripts for Laurence Ferreira Barbosa’s Normal People Are Nothing Exceptional and Brigitte Roüan’s Overseas. He wrote and directed his first feature, Bar des Rails, in 1991, and went on to direct ten more, including Trop de bonheur (Prix Jean Vigo, 1994), Roberto Succo (2001), Une vie meilleure (2011), Wild Life (Special Jury Prize, San Sebastian, 2014), The Prayer (COLCOA 2018), and Happy Birthday (COLCOA 2021). He is also an accomplished actor, appearing in such films as Xavier Beauvois’ N’oublie pas que tu vas mourir (1995), Elie Wajeman’s Aliyah (COLCOA 2013) and Les Anarchistes (2015), Laurent Tirard’s Up for Love (COLCOA 2016), and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War (2018).