Kafka’s Last Trial

Film matinée as part of the Jewish Culture Weeks

Who owns Franz Kafka? For years, this question hovered over the legal tug-of-war surrounding the estate of Kafka's best friend and executor Max Brod. Based on Benjamin Balint's award-winning book, KAFKA'S LAST TRIAL tells the story of the trial and its participants with a great sense of the human side. Ambiguities, hidden intentions, absurd entanglements and the powerlessness of the individual in the face of institutions - all of this seems to have sprung from a literary text by Kafka himself. With its collage of imaginative animations, contradictory statements and appropriate Kafka quotes, the film suggests that thinking about the question is ultimately much more important than a definitive answer.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Sebastian Schirrmeister, literary scholar at the University of Hamburg.
A cooperation with the Haus des Dokumentarfilms and the Jewish Film Days Hamburg

Note: Please understand that for security reasons we will check all bags that are taken into the event hall. Alternatively, you can lock your bags in the lockers at the checkroom.

KAFKA'S LAST TRIAL
Original version with German subtitles
Original title: Ha-Misphat Ha-Acharon Shel Kafka
Documentary, Israel 2025
Length: 72 minutes
Director: Eliran Peled
Written by: Benjamin Balint, Yotam Knispel and Eliran Peled