An Encounter with Simone Weil: trailer (documentary feature)

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What response does seeing human suffering demand of us? Filmmaker Julia Haslett seeks an answer in the controversial French philosopher and activist Simone Weil (1909-1943), whose life and work took on this question in a dramatic way. Adopting Weil as her guide through an engaging and profound moral landscape, Julia goes on a journey to understand Weil's loss of faith in revolutionary politics and the spiritual awakening that followed. Driving her obsession with Weil is the interwoven story of suffering within Haslett's own family----her father's suicide when she was 17 and now her older brother's severe depression. When Weil dies from self-starvation at the height of World War II, she is left wondering if death was the logical conclusion to Weil's philosophy and her attempt to share the pain of others?

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  Film & Animation

[John Neville]

This is an important film about an important person for our times - all times.

[zatoichi3001]

rand is just a fascist. rand never accepted the fact that there are other people who had the same rights as herself.

[Alejando Godines Castro]

rand is just an empirist, rand never acepted ontology

[Alejando Godines Castro]

simone was an anarquist nota bloshevik, read about her idea about the power animal, the state animal, you dont understand anything about her

[meowmix0901]

does anyone know where the quote "...Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity" comes from?

[IshmaelSimmonds]

individualism i would have to disagree is not as strong an idea as it once was. collectivist thought is...it seems to me, the dominant ideology. collectivist thought should be shown for what it is. EVIL dressed in love. it is a primitive mentality that will naturally bring about totalitarianism. if you beleive in this ideology may i share a chinese saying with you. "may you live in interesting times." i have studied these things for fifteen years. might be able to bring you to the gut side

[elephantstone222]

Rand is probably more important and well known than Weil: she advocated an individualism that is widespread in western society today. However, whether this is a good thing is highly debatable and imo Simone Weil's philosophy should be given just as much respect, maybe even more ...

[IshmaelSimmonds]

two words. ayn rand.

[IshmaelSimmonds]

hey, your not allowed to make sense when speaking to religious people.

[joan pendleton]

Shouldn't you--- before you go to a soup kitchen --- take a look around to make sure there is no Lazarus in your own kitchen--i.e, husband, wife, child,friend , relative, in psychological need?

I ,m sure Simone Weil would agree as she was so preternaturally insightful and so kind when she listened ,as the man in the video says.