Denial 12A

Director Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard, Temple Grandin) and writer David Hare (The Hours) recount the 1996 libel case brought against Deborah E. Lipstadt by the discredited historian David Irving, who asserted that she had defamed his reputation by labelling him a Holocaust denier in her book Denying the Holocaust. Per English libel law, the burden of proof rests with the defendant, which meant that Lipstadt then had to prove that what she had written was true; that the Holocaust had indeed taken place.

Denial boasts a plethora of strong performances, including those of Rachel Weisz as Lipstadt and Tom Wilkinson as barrister Richard Rampton, working through important questions that are as pertinent today as they were for the case, chiefly the equality of opinions and the pursuit of truth and facts in the face of those who aim to legitimise hatred through perpetuating falsehoods.