CWC Docs: “The Memory of Justice”

Director Marcel Ophuls’ magisterial documentary The Memory of Justice (1976) posits the Nuremberg Trials as the only consequential reckoning with crimes against humanity. The film asks a question that remains painfully urgent in today’s context of ongoing global conflicts: how do you seek justice after wartime atrocities? Made in the mid-1970s amid the shadows of Algeria and Vietnam, Ophuls’ film confronts this question with his signature candor and moral complexity. The film includes extraordinary interviews with figures including Albert Speer and Telford Taylor, and a musical performance by Joan Baez. A deeply personal work, the film also features an interview with Ophuls’ wife Regine, who grew up in Nazi Germany. At once a rigorous historical investigation and an emotionally transformative experience for audiences, The Memory of Justice challenges viewers to confront the complexities of justice, accountability, and memory across generations.

The Carsey-Wolf Center is proud to present The Memory of Justice in its full 278-minute running time. This screening will be accompanied by a critical and historical introduction by Marcel Ophuls’ grandson Andréas-Benjamin Seyfert (Germanic and Slavic Studies, UCSB).

The Memory of Justice was restored by the Academy Film Archive in association with Paramount Pictures and The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by The Material World Foundation, Righteous Persons Foundation, and The Film Foundation.