Through the Screen with Arendt: The Politics of Hope Amid Banality

Margarethe von Trotta’s aptly titled biographical drama Hannah Arendt (2012) centres on the life of the philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt. The film focuses on one of the most pivotal periods in Arendt’s life: the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann and the subsequent publication of Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Portrayed by acclaimed German actress Barbara Sukowa, Arendt is depicted as a visionary figure, constantly grappling with deep personal and intellectual conflicts.

This programme engages with Hannah Arendt (2012) as a form of visual philosophy, exploring how the film negotiates the idea of hope in the face of the “banality of evil.” The discussion foregrounds cinema as a medium capable of conveying philosophical nuance and affective implication. In the case of Hannah Arendt, the film becomes a space to revisit Arendt’s concept of natality—a reminder of the human capacity to begin anew, and with that, the political-ethical possibility of hope after collective trauma.

The post-screening discussion seeks not only to bring Arendt’s thoughts back into focus, but also to affirm that the film is more than mere spectacle. Cinema can open a space for empathetic action: for narrative gestures that allow hope to take shape after the moment of viewing and judgement has passed. The emotional and affective force of a film plays a crucial role in disrupting the rigidity of modern rationality which, as Arendt argues, often gives way to thoughtlessness. By treating visual experience as a form of political engagement, this discussion takes up Arendt’s invitation to resist apathy and silence. At the same time, it aims to deepen the aesthetic discourse around cinema—as an ethical space where collective, intersubjective encounters can take place. From such encounters, the fragile but necessary hope for political transformation in shared life may begin again.

This programme is part of a series commemorating the 50th year of Hannah Arendt’s passing in Indonesia; initiated and organised by the Goethe-Institut Indonesien and in collaboration with Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan.

Ikhaputri Widiantini, M. Si.
is a lecturer in Philosophy at Universitas Indonesia. She has been a lecturer since 2007 at the Bachelor of Philosophy Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Indonesia. In addition to being a lecturer, she has also managed the education project at Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan, became the editor of Jurnal Perempuan for the 2009-2011 period, and is still actively assisting as a guest editor at Jurnal Perempuan. She has also conducted many research and published on the themes of sexual violence, feminist aesthetics, and contemporary art.