“What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

Lacan: Télévision – Going under different names (Television, Psychoanalysis I &II), this film has survived as the only document of Lacan on film, the only record of the once-notorious lecture style that the analyst showcased at his infamous seminars in Paris during the late '60s to early '70s. Organized by October magazine and the French psychoanalytic journal Ornicar?, and took place at Cooper Union, an art school in lower Manhattan.

Introduced by Kate McGowan course leader of the Critical Theory MA at Manchester Metropolitan University.





What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each Documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

It has been said that in this film Kirby Dick and Ziering Kofman played Plato to our own modern day Socrates. The filmmaking team shadowed the renowned philosopher, best known for "deconstruction," and captured intimate footage of the man as he lives and works in his daily life. They filmed Derrida on his first trip to South Africa, where -- after visiting President Mandela's former prison cell -- he delivers a lecture on forgiveness to students at the University of the Western Cape. The filmmakers travel with him from his home in Paris to New York City, where he discusses the role of biographers, and the challenges that are faced when one attempts to bridge the abyssal gulf between a historic figure's work and life. They capture Derrida in private moments, musing reluctantly, about fidelity and marriage, narcissism and celebrity, and the importance of thinking philosophically about love.

Film introduced by ERI PhD student John Rowe - "The Ethics of the Gift in Contemporary Politics: Derrida and Buddhist Philosophy"

What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of Theory Documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.

Described as the 'Elvis of Theory' Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian-born political philosopher and cultural critic. He was described by Terry Eagleton as the “most formidably brilliant” recent theorist to have emerged from Continental Europe. Zizek’s work is infamously idiosyncratic. A brilliant personal portrait of a controversial and brilliant mind…

Introduced by Robert Lapsley, author of Film Theory: an Introduction





What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?”

As a guide to critical theory this season is a screening of theory documentaries from the Jacques Lacan’s 1974 television appearance to Zizek’s 2006 documentary Zizek! that follows him across the globe giving a “compelling portrait of an intellectual maverick”. Each documentary will be accompanied with a short introduction to theory given by academics and guest speakers in the field. This season is an attempt at a “beginners guide to critical theory” (a possible alternative title), featuring the works of Lacan, Zizek and Derrida.



Zizek once said “In order to understand today’s world, we need cinema; literally. It’s only in cinema that we get that crucial dimension which we are not yet ready to confront in our reality. If you are looking for what is, in reality, more real than reality itself, look into cinematic fiction.” In this 3 part television series Zizek explains the psychoanalytical approach to filmic theory in a very filmic style, superimposed on film clips and re-enacting famous scenes from movie history this series is a brilliant beginners guide to Zizek’s approach to film.

Introduced by Tony Brown, Head of Research, Manchester Metropolitan University I.O.E.,
Member of the editorial board for the International Journal of Zizek Studies.