L'humour à mort

Emmanuel and Daniel Leconte's film is a document of the social upheaval that followed, as seen through television footage as well as the filmmakers' own cameras. In this sense, Je suis Charlie is a public record; but its true power lies within the interviews the Lecontes collect from both before and after the assault on the Charlie Hebdo journalists. Much of the film is devoted to creating a portrait of the magazine and the people behind it. Footage from over the years with key contributors who were later murdered, among them editor Charb and cartoonist Cabu, conveys a direct sense of the magazine's personality and vision. Other interviews feature those who survived the attack - and watched as the two gunmen killed their friends. (Toronto International Film Festival)