By virtually every yardstick, antisemitism in the US and Europe is rising and worsening in ways not seen since the 1930s. It comes in the forms of vandalism, social media abuse, assault and murder. Like a virus, it mutates and evolves across cultures, borders and ideologies, making it all but impossible to stop. Emmy®-winning filmmaker Andrew Goldberg and producer Diana Robinson explore its infectious behavior in Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations. Goldberg travels through four countries to speak firsthand with victims, witnesses, antisemites, and interview subjects including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Fareed Zakaria, George Will, Deborah Lipstadt and many others.
With opening narration by Julianna Margulies, the film examines the far right in the US and how it has incited such acts as the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. In Hungary, witness the country’s prime minister run a massive campaign against Jewish Holocaust survivor and billionaire George Soros that is very reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. Moving to the far left in England, see the traditionally anti-racist Labour party conflating Israel and Jews, causing tremendous harm to the Jewish community. And in France, delve into the seemingly endless wave of violence against Jews by Islamists and radicals.
The increasing antisemitism within each of these four countries paints a terrifying portrait of how this kind of global hatred begins, and how easily it disseminates. As activist Maajid Nawaz explains, "If we don’t draw a red line in the sand when it comes to antisemitism, Muslims will be next, gays will be next, and everyone else who is deemed a minority will be next.”
Producer: Andrew Goldberg, Diana Robinson
Executive Producer: Bill Gardner
Production Year: 2019
Copyright Year: 2020
Rating: TV-14
Narrator: Julianna Margulies
Actors: Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Fareed Zakaria, George Will, Deborah Lipstadt
Writers: Andrew Goldberg
Number of Discs: 1
Length: 120 minutes
Subtitled: Y
Subtitle Languages: English (SDH)
Audio Format: 5.1 Surround
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen