The Sorrow and the Pity - Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969)

We’ve all been raised in the myth of the heroic French resistance during the dark years of German Occupation. However, as Marcel Ophüls’s compelling documentary reveals, a great part of the French population survived by denouncing their fellow citizens, while the Vichy government collaborated openly with the Nazis in an attempt to wipe out every Jewish element from France. Produced in 1969, The Sorrow and the Pity was banned outright ; its first screening in a Parisian theater in 1971 caused an uproar. Celebrating thirty years since its premiere, OPENING NIGHTS give Athenian audiences the opportunity to watch a documentary considered a defining moment in film history.

Director: Marcel Ophüls
Screenwriters: André Harris, Marcel Ophüls
Cinematography: Jürgen Thieme, André Gazut
Editing: Claude Vajda
Featuring: Georges Bidault, Matheus Bleibinger, Charles Braun, Emile Coulaudon

France / Switzerland / West Germany, B & W
French / German / English, 251΄
Format: 35mm