Communist, anti-colonialist, right-wing extremist? What convictions guide Jacques Vergès? Barbet Schroeder explores the mystery behind the enigmatic lawyer, who defended the likes of Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, terrorist Carlos the Jackal, and former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan.

Barbet Schroeder doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects, be they the barbarous dictator Idi Amin or fundamentalist monk Ashin Wirathu. This remarkably open-minded portrait of the problematic lawyer and anticolonial activist Jacques Vergès questions why someone would defend the indefensible.