...not just a reconstruction of a death but the living portrait of the scene of the crime.
Who Killed Walter Benjamin…
(Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, 2005, 73 min.)
A film by David Mauas
(Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, 2005, 73 min.)
A film by David Mauas
Walter Benjamin died in 1940 after illegally crossing the French-Spanish border in a desperate attempt to escape the Nazis and ultimately reach the United States.
Who Killed Walter Benjamin… proposes a “benjaminian” construction centered on the very death of the thinker, weaving into its narrative the issues that arise from historical discourse and its construction.
The film features prominent scholars, thinkers, historians, and artists such as Stéphane Hessel, Dani Karavan, Stephane Moses, Gary Smith, Rolf Tiedemann, Patrick Von Zur Mühlen, Bernd Witte, and Erdmut Wizisla, among others. Numerous interviews with local villagers reveal the elusive nature of past events while simultaneously evoking the ghost of fascism in Spain’s history.
The documentary received an award from the European Association for Jewish Culture and has been screened at film festivals and other events internationally.
It is “perhaps the first historical-intellectual film noir; Mauas’ documentary is both captivating and enlightening” (Washington Jewish Film Festival).
In 2011, a DVD was released as part of the prestigious film collection curated by Cahiers du Cinéma Spain.
PRESS
«Mauas strikes a balance between gathering information and intimate personal reflection»
Cahiers du Cinema, España
Cahiers du Cinema, España
«This film is an event, because it reveals how the mysterious death of a German thinker converts a little village of the Catalan Pyrenees to a crossroad of European history»
Deutschland Radio
Deutschland Radio
«With persistence Mauas seizes new relevant details from witnesses of that time which until now has been ignored by the international Benjamin research»
Die Tageszeitung
Die Tageszeitung
«Mauas takes the camera and rolls and rolls. Lets speak those who had listen the story from others, those who lived in that time and remember (…) Walter Benjamin is always present in the film, although his image hardly appears. He lives in others, in their memories or in their imagination…»
El Pais Semanal
El Pais Semanal
«The result is a “film noir” that moves between a classic documentary and the video art. In “Who killed Walter Benjamin…” not only is reconstructed the death of the writer but also is recreated “the scene of the crime”»
La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia
«In a documentary with airs of Mulholland Drive, the director David Mauas narrates his personal investigation, sometimes obsessive, on the circumstances that are surrounding the death of the German philosopher.
Many testimonies entwine, from town neighbors to specialists, who reveal an evidence: it is not possible to prove in an irrefutable way that Walter Benjamin commited suicide»
El Punt
Many testimonies entwine, from town neighbors to specialists, who reveal an evidence: it is not possible to prove in an irrefutable way that Walter Benjamin commited suicide»
El Punt
«David Mauas is a good disciple [of Walter Benjamin]. Who Killed Walter Benjamin is not just a documentary about this famous and unclassifiable thinker, but, first, is a work done with a deep knowledge of the work and stylistic virtuosity of Benjamin.
It is the product of an hybrid genre between pure documentary and video art devices of which at times gets translated to the display of the Benjamin´s narrative work»
A Strange Death in Portbou
It is the product of an hybrid genre between pure documentary and video art devices of which at times gets translated to the display of the Benjamin´s narrative work»
A Strange Death in Portbou
«Portbou is a place that reminds us of the death of one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century. It is also the perfect place to plumb the depths of his thought. Visiting Passages, the monument created by Dani Karavan on the hill that dominates the horizon is enough to understand the strength that his memory acquires here. The visit becomes an unforgettable experience. The same can be said of the film Who Killed Walter Benjamin… by David Mauas. This work of art, constructed with the rigor and sobriety of Claude Lanzmann, exponentially multiplies the power of memory. Placing the inhabitants face to face with their recollections of that German professor that took his own life, according to some, or whose life was taken, according to others, or that simply died; memories related to the civil war surface, imbuing the very idea of memory with the moral and political dimension that it deserves»
El Periódico de Catalunya
El Periódico de Catalunya
SPECIAL SCREENINGS WITH Q&A
We offer institutional, academic, and private screenings, each accompanied by an exclusive Q&A session with the director.
A unique opportunity to delve deeper into the film’s themes and engage directly with its creator.
These sessions are intended for universities, cultural centers, schools, and any organization interested in creating a space for reflection and learning through cinema.
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