Protocols of Zion (2005)

A documentary about the rise of anti-Semitism in the USA after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Director:

Marc Levin

Stars:

Marc Levin, Kofi Annan, Joanne Baron

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kofi Annan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joanne Baron	...	Herself
Shmuley Boteach	...	Himself - Radion Host, Talk America (as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach)
Michael L. Brown	...	Himself - Author, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus
James Carroll	...	Himself - Author, Constantine's Sword
Abraham Cooper	...	Himself - Simon Wiesenthal Center (as Rabbi Abraham Cooper)
Father Coughlin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eric Daniels	...	Himself - Prisoner
Scott DeCarlo	...	Himself - East Rutherford, NJ Police Department
Mehdi Eliefifi	...	Himself - Interfaith Activist
Abraham Foxman	...	Himself - Anti-Defamation League
Hutton Gibson	...	Himself - Mel Gibson's Father (voice)
Mel Gibson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hadassah Gross	...	Herself (as Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross)
Ted Haggard	...	Himself - President, National Association of Evangelicals (as Pastor Ted Haggard)

Storyline

After the infamous 9/11 attacks of 2001, there came a virulent resurgence of antisemitism reemerging in America convinced that the Jews were responsible for the terrorism. Feeding this is the repeatedly debunked book libel, Protocols of the Elders of Zion and its disguised adaptations. Director Marc Levin goes on a journey to interview the promoters of this kind of hate in all its forms.

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Plot Keywords:

libel | book | anti semitism | neo nazi | forgery | 

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Taglines:

Some lies never die.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some disturbing content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

ThinkFilm [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Сионские протоколы

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,733, 23 October 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$177,861, 19 February 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO/Cinemax Documentary

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the subjects from Trembling Before G-d (2001), another American documentary concerning contemporary Jewish issues, can be seen briefly in the anti-war protest.

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Goofs

When Marc Levin is walking up a gravel road with a white supremacist leader, the shots from behind show them passing several parked cars as they are engaged in conversation. Shots of them from the front, however, do not include these cars. In addition, the shots from behind show the two persons approaching the same cars several times.

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Connections

Features The Passion of the Christ (2004)

User Reviews

Interesting and entertaining, if a bit rambling

The Protocols was obviously a very personal project for Levin, his chance to get at the eternal question: why always the Jews? It was inspired by a single conversation the filmmaker had with an Arab cabdriver who was convinced that Israel was behind the 9-11 attacks. How did the cab driver know this? Because he had read it in the book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

The century-old book purports to be the minutes of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders in which they lay out their plans for world domination. In fact, it's a fraud; most of the book was plagiarized from earlier works of fiction. Mainstream western society declared it out-of-bounds over 80 years ago. Yet as Levin documents the book remains remarkably popular both on the fringes of American society and throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Levin tries to get to the bottom of this by interviewing neo-Nazis, Palestinians, radical black activists, conspiracy theorists, Christian evangelical leaders and various Jews. The most fascinating and disturbing bits are clips from Arab TV shows which dramatize the Protocols as if they were historical fact.

He never quite gets to the bottom of it -- he's not exactly the most probing of interviewers -- but the results are never less than fascinating. He deserves enormous credit for his bravery in talking to many of these people as well as his willingness to explore the "don't go there" areas of Jewish conspiracy myths. Watch it with some friends then go to a coffee shop and have a good discussion.