The French philosopher Jacques Derrida is the originator of deconstructionism, a movement that questions traditional notions of identity, truth, and the relationship between text and meaning. This playful portrait shows the philosopher at work and at life, while probing the very notion of biography. Derrida is a slippery and elusive subject, frequently dodging the directors’ personal questions and suggesting that an attempt to come to know him through film is a futile one. But Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering embrace Derrida’s evasive responses and apply his own postmodern theories to the film itself, at one point asking Derrida and his wife to reflect on footage of them watching footage of themselves, a telescopic exercise in cinematic deconstruction. Through Derrida’s lectures on the other, the self, and the nature of forgiveness—and his interactions with journalists and adoring fans—what emerges is a mind-bending, fascinating rendering of a man who has irrevocably influenced contemporary intellectualism.  EM