Based on the acclaimed book Denial: Holocaust History on Trial, Denial recounts Deborah E. Lipstadt’s (Academy Award® winner Rachel Weisz) legal battle for historical truth against David Irving (BAFTA nominee Timothy Spall), who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system, in cases of libel, the burden of proof is on the defendant, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team, led by Richard Rampton (Academy Award® nominee Tom Wilkinson), to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred.
Panel discussion and Q&A to follow.
Seating is first-come, first-served. The film screening is free of charge, open to the public, and no ticket is necessary.
Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies, Emory University
Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt is Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, Atlanta. Her most recent book, HOLOCAUST: AN AMERICAN UNDERSTANDING (2016) explores how America has understood and interpreted the Holocaust since 1945.
Her previous book was THE EICHMANN TRIAL, (2011). The New York Times Book Review described Lipstadt as having “done a great service by… recovering the event as a gripping legal drama ….in the world’s delayed awakening to the magnitude of the Holocaust.”
Her book HISTORY ON TRIAL (2005) now entitled DENIAL: HOLOCAUST HISTORY ON TRIAL (2016), is the story of her libel trial in London against David Irving who sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier and right wing extremist. The Daily Telegraph (London) described David Irving v. Penguin/Deborah Lipstadt as having "done for the new century what the Nuremberg tribunals or the Eichmann trial did for earlier generations." The Times (London) said "history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory." According to the New York Times, the trial "put an end to the pretense that Mr. Irving is anything but a self-promoting apologist for Hitler." The movie, DENIAL, starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, and Timothy Spall depicts the trial. With a screenplay by Sir David Hare, DENIAL was produced by BBC Films and Participant Media. The film was nominated for a BAFTA as one of the best British films of the year.
She has also published DENYING THE HOLOCAUST: THE GROWING ASSAULT ON TRUTH AND MEMORY (1993) and BEYOND BELIEF: THE AMERICAN PRESS AND THE COMING OF THE HOLOCAUST 1933-1945(1986).At Emory she directs the website Holocaust Denial on Trial/ www.hdot.org ] which contains a complete archive of the proceedings of Irving v. Penguin UK and Deborah Lipstadt. At Emory Lipstadt has won the Emery Williams Teaching Award given by alumni to the teacher who had most influenced them. She was an historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Assistant Professor, UCSF; CEO & Co-founder, Institute for Applied Neuroscience
Melina is an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Neurology at UC San Francisco, leading the department’s educational neuroscience efforts as Director of Education for Neuroscape, a new center that aims to bridge neuroscience and technology. Melina has spent 15 yrs at the forefront of learning neuroscience, and now applies research to solving real-world problems in education and technology. Education: Melina leads a multi-university National Science Foundation-funded network studying how executive function contributes to academic achievement. She co-founded and is CEO of a nonprofit that arms educators and students with practical tools based on learning science, Institute for Applied Neuroscience (scienceforgood.org). Technology: Melina leads an NIH-funded research program that investigates whether technology use is associated with neurocognitive changes. She co-chaired a 2015 National Academy of Sciences conference on children and technology, and sits on the board of the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development. She also holds an affiliation with Stanford’s Psychology Department and is a MacArthur Scholar. Her work has been highlighted in media outlets such as the New York Times, PBS, and Frontline. Her science outreach work includes serving as Script Supervisor on the Emmy-nominated PBS TV series The Brain with David Eagleman, and as scientific advisor on an award-winning short film about the brain.
David Linde is CEO of Participant, the leading media company dedicated to entertainment that stands at the intersection of art and activism. Linde is responsible for leading the company’s strategy, content, impact campaigning, operations, and acquisitions. Participant titles include Oscar winners Spotlight, Green Book, American Factory, CITIZENFOUR, The Cove, An Inconvenient Truth, ROMA and A Fantastic Woman; as well as Contagion, Good Night Good Luck, Flee and in television, Emmy®-winning content such as Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us. Linde’s background spans production, global distribution and building companies from the ground up. He served as chairman of Universal Pictures, co-founder of Focus Features and CEO/owner of Lava Bear Films, where he produced multi-Oscar® nominee Arrival. Linde currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees and Film Independent's Board Of Directors.
President, Samueli Family Philanthropies and COO, H&S Ventures, Samueli Foundation
Lindsey Spindle serves as President of the Samueli Family Philanthropies and Chief Operating Officer of H&S Ventures which oversees all the Samueli Family’s for-profit and not-for-profit activities. The philanthropic entities operating under the oversight of H&S Ventures include the Samueli Foundation, the Anaheim Ducks Foundation, the San Diego Gulls Foundation, the Irvine Ice Foundation, and The Rinks Foundation.
Spindle was President of The Jeff Skoll Group, where she connected and advised Mr. Skoll’s entrepreneurial portfolio of philanthropic and commercial organizations that include the impact entertainment company Participant, Capricorn Investment Group, and the Skoll Foundation. The Skoll Foundation’s mission is centered on social entrepreneurship and innovation, with a focus on five main, interrelated areas: climate change, inclusive economies, protection of democracy, pandemics prevention and health systems strengthening, and racial justice. Participant has produced more than
