X
  • 2009
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 31 m
  • 2009
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 31 m
Defamation

Summary Intent on shaking up the ultimate ‘sacred cow’ for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, “What is anti-Semitism today?” Does it remain a dangerous and immediate threat? Or is it a scare tactic used by right-wing Zionists to discredit their critics? (First Run...

Directed By: Yoav Shamir

Written By: Yoav Shamir

  • 2009
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 31 m
  • 2009
  • Not Rated
  • First Run Features
  • 1 h 31 m

Defamation

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
58
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary Intent on shaking up the ultimate ‘sacred cow’ for Jews, Israeli director Yoav Shamir embarks on a provocative - and at times irreverent - quest to answer the question, “What is anti-Semitism today?” Does it remain a dangerous and immediate threat? Or is it a scare tactic used by right-wing Zionists to discredit their critics? (First Run...

Directed By: Yoav Shamir

Written By: Yoav Shamir

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
58
40% Positive
4 Reviews
60% Mixed
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
58
40% Positive
4 Reviews
60% Mixed
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
91
This brave documentary takes on the topic of anti-Semitism in a relentlessly probing and original way.
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
75
Defamation tries to give all sides a full airing, but it's not hard to guess the director's own feeling. At the end, he says, "Putting too much emphasis on the past, as horrific as it has been, is holding us back."
By Walter Addiego FULL REVIEW
70
End result is at once intelligent, wry and -- there's no way around it -- quintessentially Jewish, in the best sense.
FULL REVIEW
60
Like Moore’s modus, Shamir’s stroll is sloppy, but his willingness to tip sacred cows is truly courageous.
By S. James Snyder FULL REVIEW
60
The most affecting scenes, however, involve the class of Israeli teenagers visiting Auschwitz.
By Ray Bennett FULL REVIEW
50
Like most good documentaries, Defamation poses more questions than it purports to answer, before arriving at the mildly reductive postulation that what's past is past.
FULL REVIEW
40
Disorganized and somewhat annoying.
By Neil Genzlinger FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Cinephil, Knut Ogris Films, Reveal Productions, SF Film, Yoav Shamir Films
Release Date Nov 20, 2009
Duration 1 h 31 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Website http://www.defamation-thefilm.eu/
View All Details

Awards

Warsaw International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Zurich Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
CPH:DOX
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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