Irvin Yalom

Irvin Yalom‘s books are classics. Time and again, his published novels and stories have turned into bestsellers. People all over the world love to immerse themselves into his work. The film follows Irvin Yalom in his everyday life and creative process, offering the audience emotional moments and exciting insights into the life of the 91-year-old writer. How did Irvin Yalom become who he is? Irvin, his children and friends look back on the eventful life he and his deceased wife Marilyn have lived, giving us a very personal view on the „Here and Now“.

Year

2022

Length

52 min

Director

Eva Fouquet

Synopsis

Irvin Yalom is a successful therapist and celebrated author. His professional books are classics. With his stories and novels, he lands one success after another. As a therapist, he knows people‘s problems.

Irvin Yalom is ahead of his time and uses direct conversation with patients as a diagnostic tool early on. With his „Here and Now“ approach, he focuses on the relationship between his patients and himself as the therapist, always negotiating themes of death, freedom, loneliness and meaning.

Irvin Yalom shared his love of literature with his wife Marilyn Yalom, herself author of numerous books. The two were a couple for 75 years, always inspiring each other, until she passed away in 2019.

Irvin and Marilyn write a book about death and the process of saying goodbye. Irvin, who must learn to live without Marilyn, falls into a deep depression. But several months ago, Irvin Yalom met a new woman and is happy again – the German therapist Sakino Mathilde Sternberg. Together, they are writing a book about their childhood traumas. It is an honest dialogue between the daughter of a Nazi and the son of Jewish refugees.

The film accompanies Irvin Yalom in his everyday life and creative process, allowing the audience emotional moments and exciting insights into the life of the 91-year-old writer. Irvin, his children and friends look back on the eventful life he and his deceased wife Marilyn have lived, giving us a very personal view on the „Here and Now“.

Credits

Directed By

Eva Fouquet

Cinematographer

Christoph Rohrscheidt
Paul Busse

Sound

Waldemar Bruch
Burak Kücük
Nicolas Winkelhahn

Editor

Anke Wiesenthal

Music

Nils Kacirek Aulodion

Producer

Nadine Neumann

Archive Producer

Marita Singer

Production Assistants

Nele Thumser
Marita Singer

Postproduction

Malte Hadeler

Vfx/Cgi/Animation

Biggi Klier

Mix/Sound design

Pierre Brand

Production Management

Juliane Hribar
Melanie Clausen (NDR/ARTE)

Executive Producer

Reinhardt Beetz

Editorial

Ulrike Dotzer & Gitta Data (NDR/ARTE)

A production by Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduction
Produced for ARTE/NDR
Funded by Nordmedia

Sales & distribution

Trailer

„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

17.05.2018