“Ernest Mandel – A life for the revolution”

Ernest Mandel was one of the most innovative Marxist thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century. He was a “professional revolutionary” who invested all his energy, knowledge and vast personal culture in the struggle for socialism and in the building of a revolutionary party and the Fourth International. At the same time, Mandel maintained a hectic pace of scholarly activity; he is the author of several books: Marxist Economic Theory; Trotsky: A Study in the Dynamic of his Thought and Late Capitalism, among others.

This 90-minute documentary looks back at Mandel’s life and 60 years of struggles: from the Civil War in Spain to the fall of the Berlin Wall, with segments on Algeria, Che Guevara, Vietnam, the 1960-1961 Belgian general strike, May 68, Portugal, Chile, feminism, ecology, workers control, the Sandinistas and more. This DVD includes “A man called Ernest Mandel”, a 40 minutes 1972 film by Frans Buyens.

Directed by Chris Den Hond

Editing: Arnaud Boudou

French translation and proofreading: Daniel Liebman, Pips Patroons, Céline Caudron, Mireille Court, Freddy De Pauw, Denise Comanne, Anouk Balster, Arnaud Boudou

English subtitles: Raghu Krishnan

Proofreading of English subtitles: Claire Hurtig and David Camfield

Other acknowledgements: Anne Sprimont-Mandel, Ataulfo Riera, Jan-Willem Stutje, Thierry Tillier, Gilbert Achcar

Subtitling: Avanti-Productions

Jacket layout: Matthias Lievens

Image credits: “Fire Raiser”, Barefoot Video 1987; Interview of Ernest Mandel by Tariq Ali, 1987; “Workers of all lands”; “Encore une…, Manu Simon et des travailleurs de Glaverbel-Gilly”, 1975; “De agitator”, VRT, 1973; “Allende”, VRT, 1973; “Wie schrijft die blijft”, VRT, 1989; “50 jaar Trotsky”, VRT, 1990; “LP la Fête Rouge”, 1975; “Le Filet américain”, Robbe de Hert, 1981; “Matzpen, Anti-Zionist Israelis”, Eran Torbiner, 2003; “Génération Intifada” and “Les Internationaux en Palestine”, Chris Den Hond, 2001; “Wortwechsel”, TV Westfalen, 1987; “Ecran Soir, L’avenir du communisme”, RTL, 1989; “Belevenissen”, VPRO 1990.

Interviews with: Eric Toussaint, François Vercammen, Mokhtar, Alain Krivine, Janette Habel, Tariq Ali, André Henry, Francisco Louça, Ida Dequeecker, Marijke Colle, Michel Warschawski, João Machado and Catherine Samary

conducted by Chris Den Hond, 2005

Music:

Algerian national anthem; “Hasta siempre Comandante” by Victor Jara; Song from the Paris Commune; Grandola Vila Morena, Portugal ; “Belaadi”, Palestinian national anthem; Song from the civil war, USSR; The Internationale

This documentary was produced with the support of

La Formation Léon Lesoil and La Gauche magazine

Contact:

IIRE, Phone: +31 20 6717263, Skype: iire-iirf
iire@iire.org, www.iire.org

Lombokstraat 40, NL-1094 AL AMSTERDAM, Holland

Contact for Canada and the USA:

Ernest Mandel DVD

P.O. Box 85, Station E,

Toronto, Ontario M6H 4E1 Canada

e-mail: mandeldvd@gmail.com

phone: (416) 537-8925