Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt

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Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt

Released Apr 6, 2016

1h 30m

Documentary

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94%

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16 Reviews

83%

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50+ Ratings

A portrait of the life of the German-Jewish philosopher.

Kate Taylor

Globe and Mail

[A] solid intellectual biography ...

Rated: 2.5/4

Jun 10, 2016

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Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

Ushpiz is careful to include naysayers along with supporters of Arendt, but the core of her contention is still a flashpoint for controversy.

Rated: B

Apr 29, 2016

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

"Vita Activa" closely examines Arendt's "active life" with the goal of putting us inside her formative experiences, the better to reveal who she was and where her attitudes came from.

Apr 28, 2016

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Ken Eisner

Georgia Straight

Arendt's focus on the demonization of refugees as a precursor to genocide proved prescient, and the film makes the case that exile allows some thinkers to see the bigger picture, even as they're forced to sacrifice their own notion of home.

Oct 12, 2016

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Sherilyn Connelly

SF Weekly

Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt covers the whole of her life, and it is not a hagiography, giving plenty of time to those who disagree with her. But many of her ideas are no less relevant today.

Aug 11, 2016

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Susan G. Cole

NOW Toronto

An excellent portrait of a powerful public intellectual.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 8, 2016

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Jay B

Very well done documentary. Very much goes with mostly her own words from letters and her writings. Also interviews and letters from close aquantances .

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/18/23

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Audience Member

A vigorous and thoughtful extraordinarily well-done documentary about a prolific and unclassifiable brilliant thinker. Incredibly relevant to the world in which we currently live.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

This is a fine overview of Hanna Arendt's life and thought. It is fascinating from start to finish, and everyone I know who has seen it has been unable to stop thinking about it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

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Ada Ushpiz

Director

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Synopsis

A portrait of the life of the German-Jewish philosopher.

Director: Ada Ushpiz
Distributor: Zeitgeist
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 6, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $78.4K
Runtime: 1h 30m