The upcoming film “Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations” shines light on the dark, startling rise of attacks on Jews in the U.S. and Europe… and director Andrew Goldberg gives TheWrap an exclusive first look.
The 90-minute film focuses on antisemitism in the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Hungary, and features interviews with Bill Clinton, former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair, journalist Fareed Zakaria, political commentator George Will and American historian Deborah Lipstadt.
“Viral” is set to premiere Feb. 21 in New York City, where an alarming number of anti-Jewish attacks have taken place in recent months, including a shooting at a New Jersey kosher supermarket that killed six people in December. Weeks later, five Hasidic Jews were stabbed by a man with a machete in a New York suburb.
The film examines how some members of the American far-right incited the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in late 2018. “Viral” also looks at several anti-Jewish incidents in England, where 87% of British Jews said they believed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was an anti-Semite.
“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,” activist Maajid Nawaz says in the film.
This isn’t the first time Goldberg has examined antisemitism in his work. He directed the PBS documentary “Antisemitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence” in 2007, and he’s looked at other forms of racism as well, including the Armenian Genocide, in other films.
Following its Feb. 21 debut in New York, “Viral” will open in theaters on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Long Island, Miami, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Tampa, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago and additional markets.