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THE LAST LAUGH is a feature documentary that proceeds from the premise that the Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even the victims of the Nazi concentration camps themselves used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any use of comedy in connection with this horror risks diminishing the suffering of millions. So where is the line? If we make the Holocaust off limits, what are the implications for other controversial subjects—9/11, AIDS, racism—in a society that prizes freedom of speech?
Shot on Super 16mm, THE LAST LAUGH thoughtfully weaves together an intimate cinema verité portrait of Auschwitz survivor Renee Firestone alongside interviews with influential comedians and thinkers ranging from Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, and Gilbert Gottfried to authors Etgar Keret, Shalom Auslander, and Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, as well as archival material ranging from "The Producers" and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” to clips of comics such as Louis CK, Joan Rivers, and Chris Rock, to newly discovered footage of Jerry Lewis’ never-released film Holocaust comedy "The Day the Clown Cried," to rare footage of cabarets inside the concentration camps themselves. In doing so, THE LAST LAUGH offers fresh insights into the Holocaust in a way we haven't seen before.
Original Release
03/03/2017
US Release
03/03/2017
Links
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Renee Firestone | Self |
Klara Firestone | Self |
Gilbert Gottfried | Self |
Rob Reiner | Self |
Mel Brooks | Self |
Judy Gold | Self |
Sarah Silverman | Self |
Carl Reiner | Self |
Robert Clary | Self |
Etgar Keret | Self |
Directors
Writers
Robert Edwards, Kent Kirshenbaum, Ferne Pearlstein
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Renee Firestone | Self |
Klara Firestone | Self |
Gilbert Gottfried | Self |
Rob Reiner | Self |
Mel Brooks | Self |
Judy Gold | Self |
Sarah Silverman | Self |
Carl Reiner | Self |
Robert Clary | Self |
Etgar Keret | Self |
Aaron Breitbart | Self |
Jake Ehrenreich | Self |
Alan Zweibel | Self |
Susie Essman | Self |
Larry Charles | Self |
Deb Filler | Self |
Elly Gross | Self |
Jeffrey Ross | Self |
Harry Shearer | Self |
David Steinberg | Self |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Adrienne Collatos | Producer |
Jamie Lauren Davis | Producer |
Robert Edwards | Producer |
Anne Etheridge | Producer |
Amy Hobby | Producer |
Anne Hubbell | Producer |
Ferne Pearlstein | Producer |
Yelena Rachitsky | Producer |
Dori Stegman | Producer |
Jan Warner | Producer |
Steve Bennett | Producer |